Last week, the Arizona Supreme Court unanimously ruled in favor of taxpayers when it shut down the City of Phoenix’s agreement with its employee union that allowed union employees to perform union business while being paid by the city. The Court ruled that the practice—known as “release time” because city employees were released from the duties for which they were hired—was an improper gift the union and therefore violates the Gift Clause of Article 9, Section 7 of the Arizona Constitution.
In this case, the City of Phoenix entered into a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the local AFSCME union that, among other giveaways to the union, provided four full-time, taxpayer-funded positions to the union, with the employees released for union business. The details of Phoenix’s arrangement with the union were so egregious that the court noted: “the costs and benefits here are so one-sided that it is difficult to envision how such expansive release time provisions could ever survive” legal scrutiny.
Shutting down this subsidy to the unions is unquestionably a great win for Phoenix taxpayers, who were represented in the case by the Goldwater Institute. It may also prove beneficial to taxpayers across the state, as other cities will be forced to evaluate their own union contracts for similar giveaways. While Arizonans no longer have to worry about these union giveaways, this is a still problem in many states, Fortunately, the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) has model legislation prohibiting release time.
This is Phoenix’s second major court loss this summer. In June the city’s prevailing wage ordinance, which would have forced non-union employers to pay union wages, was struck down after Phoenix and Tucson followed flawed legal advice from Attorney General Kris Mayes in a transparent violation of state law. That case was also argued by Goldwater Institute attorneys, as well as Republican leaders in the legislature who intervened in the case.
Last week’s state supreme court decision comes on the heels of Arizona Senator Mark Kelly announcing his support for the PRO-Act, which would undermine the right to work in Arizona.