New Hampshire Workers Derail ‘Right-to-Work’ Legislation

On March 26, New Hampshire union members, including BAC members, their families, community allies and many small businesses successfully turned back efforts to enact a state Right-to-Work (RTW) bill when the New Hampshire House of Representatives soundly rejected the anti-worker measure, 262–103.

The vote followed an intensive three-month battle that pitted 40,000 union and family members against a small but well financed group of out-of-state RTW backers, sponsored by the Virginia-based National Right to Work Committee.

If passed, the legislation would have allowed workers to benefit from the wages, benefits and working conditions negotiated by a union without having to pay their share of union dues to settle and administer the collective bargaining agreement. Over time, this “freeloading” weakens the union’s ability to negotiate better wages, benefits and working conditions. In the end, all workers suffer.

“The overwhelming victory for workers in the state of New Hampshire is a recognition by the general public of the importance of labor unions and collective bargaining in today’s society,” says IU Region 1 Director Chuck Raso. Raso adds that another positive side effect of the RTW victory is the organizational momentum union activists now have as the 2004 elections approach.