You'd be forgiven for thinking there's a war on labor in the U.S.

Earlier this year, Wisconsin and Ohio, states with historic ties to labor, passed laws to undo or severely limit collective-bargaining rights.

And just last week, in somewhat of a surprise, state lawmakers in the Massachusetts House of Representatives passed a bill to restrict the ability of municipal employees to bargain over their health care plans. The bill still has a couple of hurdles to clear before it can become law.

With all this activity, what's the future of collective bargaining in New Mexico?

Not to worry, officials say. At a time when labor might be in a do-or-die fight in other states, New Mexico isn't the next battleground.

"New Mexico is not Wisconsin," said Wayne Bingham, whom Gov. Susana Martinez recently appointed to the New Mexico Public Employee Labor Relations Board. Bingham is management's representative on the three-person board.

"We are not a state where people go nuclear on each other," is how Carter Bundy expressed the same idea. Bundy is the political director of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, Council 18.

"We are not a state where ideological think tanks are driving policies," Bundy said. "It's a different political culture where there's a respect for other people to exist."

Both Bingham and Bundy are scheduled participants at a conference Friday on the subject of collective bargaining and its future in New Mexico, which is sponsored by The University of New Mexico School of Public Administration in collaboration with the UNM Continuing Education Department. The event is planned for 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Hotel Santa Fe.

The discussion over collective bargaining comes at a time when New Mexico, like other states, is struggling with budgetary problems and public employees are sharing in some of the pain. Policymakers saved more than $100 million for the state budget year that starts July 1 by requiring state workers, teachers and other educational employees to contribute more into their pension plans.

In addition, there are hints of strain between the governor and the public employee labor unions. The unions sued Martinez in March after she dismissed members of the New Mexico Public Employee Labor Relations Board. Without a board in place, grievances weren't being heard, a union attorney said at the time.

A unanimous state Supreme Court sided with the unions in April, saying Martinez lacked authority to arbitrarily remove two board members.

But tension between the governor and the unions doesn't equal a knock-down, drag-out showdown, officials say.

First, the New Mexico law that allows collective bargaining doesn't have an expiration date like the act it succeeded, Bingham said. The state's current law reinstated collective-bargaining rights for unions after an earlier law expired in 1999.

"The issues in terms of collective bargaining for the near future are going to be there's no money," Bingham said. "There's not much to talk about."

Bundy added that what happened in Wisconsin once its law passed might make anyone question the wisdom of undoing collective bargaining here. Activists on both sides of the Wisconsin fight have started recall efforts against lawmakers.

"The political backlash in Wisconsin will make people think twice about that," Bundy said.

Finally, a big difference between Wisconsin and New Mexico is the governor.

In Wisconsin, Gov. Scott Walker made undoing collective bargaining a priority. Martinez doesn't even mention it on her to-do list.

"I'm not there," the governor said. "There are a lot more important things for us to be dealing with. That's what I am concentrating on, changing a whole lot of other things such as the budget and schools. That's just not something I've even given thought to."

So New Mexicans won't see a repeat of Wisconsin next year during the 2012 legislative session?

"We have to work with collective bargaining and the unions, we have to make sure that we get the most for the taxpayer dollar ... especially, like, for example, in education," Martinez said in a short interview with The New Mexican. "We have to make sure we are working with the unions but that both of us are putting the kids first."

But no, she said, she doesn't see a need for major changes to the state law.

The fate of a so-called "right-to-work" bill filed during the Legislature's 60-day session this year might illustrate the difficulty of undoing collective bargaining in New Mexico.

House Bill 331, introduced by Rep. Candy Spence Ezell, R-Roswell, would have prohibited making hiring, promotion or continued employment conditional on becoming or remaining a member of a labor organization, or paying dues or fees to any kind of labor organization. It died in its first House committee.

Of course, Democrats, who are often unions' most ardent allies, control both chambers of the New Mexico Legislature, which might explain the bill's short life span. But even if the GOP were to take control of each chamber in 2012, don't expect a Wisconsin-type scenario, Bundy said.

"If Republicans take both chambers in 2012, you might see a more aggressive stance," Bundy said. "But I don't think Republicans here are as politically strident as in other places."

So for now, there aren't any murmurings about a campaign to take on collective-bargaining rights, said Rep. Luciano "Lucky" Varela, D-Santa Fe, a staunch defender of public employees.

Varela has been around long enough to know things can change. But he doesn't anticipate it.

"Maybe something could happen," Varela said. "We'll wait to see."

Contact Trip Jennings at 986-3050 or at tjennings@sfnewmexican.com.