Conflict Over Collective Bargaining
L to R: Las Vegas Police Protective Association Executive Director Chris Collins and Treasurer Scott Nicholas (photo: lvppa.com)
The executive board of Nevada’s most powerful police union began efforts to fire its longtime leader this week, exposing a messy internal battle over collective bargaining legislation and labor politics.
In a union memo obtained by the Las Vegas Sun, Las Vegas Police Protective Association treasurer Scott Nicholas listed at least eight transgressions allegedly committed by Executive Director Chris Collins, who was asked to step down from his job on Saturday by the union’s full board. The most notable was a purported scheme to use anti-union legislation for Collins’ own gain.
Collins, whose attempted ousting comes in the middle of a GOP-fueled legislative session fraught with bills that aim to limit union power, is accused of willfully neglecting to speak out against a proposed law that would weaken collective bargaining power for police, firefighters and other local government employees.
“Assembly Bill 182 is likely to be remembered as the most important bill… for the LVPPA and other collective bargaining groups to defeat,” Nicholas’ memo says, scolding Collins for staying quiet at its introductory hearing March 25. “Your failure to publicly oppose this bill at the hearing level is unacceptable and inexcusable.”
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