CONCORD – The campaign for New Hampshire to become the first state in the Northeast to adopt a right-to-work law got halfway home with state Senate passage of the measure Thursday.
The legislation would outlaw private-sector collective bargaining agreements from requiring employees to pay dues or cover a union’s negotiating costs.
Senate Majority Leader Jeb Bradley, R-Wolfeboro, said the Supreme Court in 2018 ruled that public sector unions could not have these mandates.
“This has not been the end of public sector unions; in fact they are very, very strong,” Bradley said. “The only differences is they cannot compel membership in the unions through dues or agency fees.”
Sen. Kevin Cavanaugh, D-Manchester and a member of the AFL-CIO executive board, warned that right- to-work would attract employers that pay less and have fewer safety protections for workers.
“This bill accelerates the race to the bottom for too many families,” Cavanaugh said, warning that he believes Republicans make up half of union membership in the state. “If you pass this bill you will have to answer to those Republicans.”
The Senate endorsed it (SB 61), 13-11.
Sen. Sharon Carson, R-Londonderry, joined with all 10 Senate Democrats to oppose the measure.
The House of Representatives has never endorsed right-to-work legislation. Lawmakers have killed 39 different attempts to pass it.
Currently, 27 states have right-to-work laws. Wisconsin (2015), West Virginia (2016), Kentucky and Louisiana (both 2017) most recently adopted it.
The Union Leader reported that the only staffer running New England Citizens for Right to Work signed up as treasurer of 11 different political action committees that then donated nearly $100,000 in 2020 to 10 Senate GOP candidates, eight of whom won last Nov. 3.
Three of those senators co-sponsored this bill.
“Unfortunately, a majority of our state Senate demonstrated today that they would rather listen to bribes coming from out-of-state corporate interests than the constituents they claim to serve,” charged Glenn Brackett, president of NH AFL-CIO.
Senate Democratic Leader Donna Soucy of Manchester said the bill was flawed because it took away legal discretion, saying that the attorney general or county attorney offices “shall prosecute” any allegations of violating the proposed law.
“You will not find that anywhere else in the laws of New Hampshire,” Soucy said. “The legislation itself is bad; it’s just model legislation that doesn’t fit New Hampshire.”
Sen. Harold French, R-Webster, said that employment, average worker income and manufacturing jobs all have all grown more significantly in states with right-to-work laws, compared to the 23 states without it.
After Gov. Chris Sununu won his first term in 2016, he made right-to-work legislation a top priority. His bid failed, 200-177, in 2017 as a few dozen House GOP lawmakers opposed it.
In 2021, Sununu has yet to weigh in on the legislation.
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