It's happening again. Efforts to make New Hampshire a "Right-to-Work" state are happening again in the New Hampshire Legislature. Over two dozen states have Right-to-Work laws, although none in the New England area. Efforts to adopt it here have been ongoing for decades dating back to the 1980s.
This year's version is House bill 238. It's sponsored by 13 Republicans, 10 in the House and three in the Senate. Championed by a variety of groups and individuals, the bill is described by its title as "prohibiting collective bargaining agreements from requiring employees join or contribute to a labor union."
Currently, if a business is unionized all employees contribute an agency fee to cover the cost of negotiations to administer a contract that is fair for all employees. Without a union, unless an employee has a personal contract, that employee is "at will," and can be fired at any time. Kind of sounds like options being dictated by our leaders in Washington.
That also means that as an employee, if you slow down because of an injury, or age, or if you voice concerns about workplace hazards, or for any other reason not protected by discrimination laws, you can be terminated. Union collective bargaining, on the other hand, provides protections for all employees.
I grew up in a union household. My Dad was a lifelong painters and allied trades union member, eventually becoming its business manager. As a boy, I remember him hosting union members in our home.
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