Wisconsin hearing on right-to-work bill
set for Tuesday
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[February 24, 2015]
By Brendan O'Brien
MADISON, Wis. (Reuters) - Wisconsin's
majority-Republican legislature will this week take up a right-to-work
bill that is expected to spark union protests in Madison, after two
legislative committees on Monday approved plans to convene an
extraordinary session.
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The Senate and Assembly organization committees voted along party
lines to start the session on Tuesday with a hearing on the proposed
right-to-work bill in the Senate labor committee, followed by a full
Senate discussion on Wednesday.
"I believe the right-to-work issue is about workplace freedom.
Workers should have the freedom to choose whether or not it is in
their family’s best interest to join a union," said Republican
Representative Tyler August in a statement.
The proposed bill would prohibit workers from being required to join
and financially support a union - such as by paying dues - as a
condition of their employment.
Democrats and unions sharply oppose right-to-work legislation in
Wisconsin, where Republican lawmakers in 2011 approved restrictions
on collective bargaining for most public-sector unions except police
and fire amid large demonstrations.
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"Not only will this bill lower family wages across our state and
interfere with private business contracts but it could leave
taxpayers with an even larger budget hole to fill," Senate Minority
Leader Jennifer Shilling said on Monday.
The adoption of a right-to-work law would decrease state revenue
through lower wages, Shilling said.
A crowd of about 200 people and union members on Monday evening
huddled in frigid temperatures in a downtown Milwaukee park where
they called the right-to-work legislation an assault on the working
class.
"We are going up against a beast...its whole purpose is to demean
our unions," said Gerry Miller, a welder and member of the United
Auto Workers.
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Unions also plan to hold a rally at the state capitol building on
Tuesday to coincide with the Senate committee public hearing.
"If right-to-work was any good for this state, we wouldn't see it
being... passed this quickly in an attempt to circumvent democracy,"
said Phil Neuenfeldt, Wisconsin AFL-CIO president.
Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald expects the Republican-dominated
Senate to approve the legislation by the end of the week and the
Assembly to take up the bill the week of March 2.
Governor Scott Walker, a potential Republican candidate for
president in 2016, supports the policy and will sign the bill if it
makes it to his desk, a spokeswoman said on Friday.
(Reporting by Brendan O'Brien in Madison,; Editing by Bill Trott and
Lisa Lambert)
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