Tuesday's front-page story about the spreading campaign to abolish or limit collective-bargaining rights for public employees noted that almost half the states in the United States have bills in the works.
But Alaska is not one of them.
State Rep. Carl Gatto last week dropped his bill to restrict the bargaining rights of Alaska's public employees in the face of both active opposition and a lack of enthusiasm among even some fellow Republicans. Gatto's bill exempted police, firefighters and emergency medical technicians.
The Parnell administration sensibly responded that Alaska's state employees' unions and the government have bargained in good faith and that we have a system that's working. The governor may seek concessions but isn't aiming to break unions.
The administration and other Alaskans also have no interest in starting such a battle in a state with more than 85,000 public employees -- about 27 percent of Alaska's work force as of February, according to estimates by the Department of Labor and Workforce Development. Politicians on both sides of the aisle can count.
To read the complete editorial, visit www.adn.com.