In a vote split along party lines Wednesday, Schuylkill County commissioners approved a resolution that asks state legislators to change a law that requires local governments to deduct union dues from public employee's paychecks.

Schuylkill County takes the union dues from members of its seven collective bargaining units, then turns the money over to the unions.Republican commissioners George F. Halcovage Jr. and chairman Frank J. Staudenmeier voted in favor of the resolution; Democrat Gary J. Hess was opposed.Before the votes were cast, Hess asked if the resolution had been given to any union members for their review."Not that I'm aware of," Staudenmeier said."In light of our lengthy and ongoing negotiations that we've been having ... I feel it's not a good time to present this resolution. My feeling is that the trust level sometimes is broken, on either side, management or labor. And the longer the labor talks and negotiations go, the harder it is to settle the situation."The county is currently negotiating contracts with four collective bargaining units.Hess said the resolution should have been brought up in last week's work session so that union members and others would have had a chance to offer their opinions. His request to delay the vote.Halcovage said that any change has to be made on the state level, and that the local resolution was just a "suggestion" that legislators need to act on the matter.Outside the public meeting, he said that the automatic deductions cost taxpayer money, and weaken accountability.Halcovage said he had spoken with some union members."If they had paid their union dues directly, that the union would listen to some concerns that they may have," he said.There are currently two bills pending in the state legislature, House Bill 1507 and Senate Bill 1034. Both would bar unions from including the automatic paycheck deductions for dues, fair share fees and into their contracts.State Rep. Jerry Knowles, R-Schuylkill, co-sponsored the House bill."Our legislation amends the Public Employee Relations Act (Act 195 of 1970) to eliminate the ability of public employers and representative unions to negotiate clauses in collective bargaining agreements which requires the deduction of union dues or political contributions from paychecks. It is important to note that several groups such as prison guards, firemen and policemen will not be affected by this proposal."Since some of this money is used for political purposes we do not believe that the public employers funded by tax dollars should be in the business of collecting these fees for representative unions. Our legislation takes the public employer out of the "loop" when collecting such fees against non-members, and requires that the representative union collect these fees directly for their members," a memo attached to the proposal states. The Republican-sponsored proposals prompted unions to rally in opposition on Jan. 28 at the state capitol. According to numerous published reports, unions believe the measures are aimed at weakening collective bargaining units.