Wisconsin Democrats are once again introducing labor rights legislation, designed to repeal laws enacted by Republican former Gov. Scott Walker.
All of Wisconsin’s Democratic lawmakers have signed onto the legislative package, which was announced Thursday. But the proposals face a difficult road in the state’s GOP-controlled Legislature. Democratic Gov. Tony Evers included several similar proposals in his most-recent budget proposal, but Republican lawmakers removed them.
One of the newly unveiled bills would undo a 2015 law that made Wisconsin into what’s known as a right-to-work state. Under that law, private sector employees in Wisconsin can opt out of paying union dues even in unionized workplaces.
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Republicans say right-to-work gives employees the freedom to choose. But Democrats have blasted the law for weakening organized labor, by cutting down on the size and financial power of union membership.
“Union workers like me call right-to-work ‘right to work for less,’” Colin Gillis, a Madison-based nurse who’s also involved with the Service Employees International Union, said during a news conference. “Right-to-work laws keep workers from getting the wages they deserve because they make it harder for us to speak as one.”
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