Posted Tuesday, September 26, 2023 3:21 pm

By Howard Fischer
Mail | X: @azcapmedia

PHOENIX — A coalition of labor unions and liberal political groups is hoping to get Arizona voters to rethink a 77-year old decision to make Arizona a “right-to-work” state.

The new initiative drive would repeal a constitutional amendment that spells out no one can be denied the ability to have a job simply because he or she is not a member of a labor union. It also bars employers from entering into an agreement with a union to hire only union members.

Federal law already prohibits that.

But the real effect would be to preclude any sort of deal between a union and a company that says anyone who works at a site has to at least contribute to the cost of operating the union. The premise is that if the union is negotiating wages and benefits for all workers, everyone should have to share in the cost, regardless of whether they choose to belong to the union or not.

It remains unclear whether voters, who approved the constitutional provision in 1946 by a 55%-45% margin, might have different thoughts today.

On one hand, Arizonans have shown an increasing interest in worker rights.

That specifically includes measures approved in 2006 and again in 2016 that raised the minimum wage far above the $7.25 floor set by Congress, $13.85 now and going to $14.35 in January. And the latter of these initiatives also provides for paid sick leave of 40 hours a year for employees of companies with 15 or more...

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