Right-to-Work bill dies again in NH House
Feb. 22—CONCORD — By a comfortable margin, the closely divided House of Representatives turned down Right-to-Work legislation that would block a union from requiring employees to join or pay dues.
Opponents completely short-circuited the debate over the bill (HB 1377) by convincing the full House to indefinitely postpone the entire topic for the rest of 2024.
The vote was 212-168, a larger victory margin for opponents than seen in the recent past.
In 2021, a similar bill went down to defeat, 199-175.
Rep. Dan LeClerc, D-Amherst, said he's been a union carpenter for nearly 30 years.
"Let's be clear. The reality is that Right-to-Work is not just wrong for New Hampshire workers; it is wrong for New Hampshire businesses," LeClerc said.
Rep. Michael Granger, R-Milton, attracted boos from legislative opponents when he said unions under the current system were allowed to "steal from my paycheck."
In a "closed shop," independent employees have no rights to bargain, Granger said.
"How would you go about independently negotiating your own wage and benefit package directly with the company? You can't. It's illegal," Granger said.
Supporters of this cause lost 23 House Republicans who went with the move to kill it.
No House Democrats backed the bill.
Currently, 26 states have Right-to-Work laws.
None of them are in the Northeast.
Last March, Michigan became the first state in 58 years to repeal its Right-to-Work law.
Right-to-Work supporters consider it a pro-worker measure as they maintain it gives workers a choice on whether to join unions.
Opponents consider it a union-busting tactic and argue that it would allow companies to provide lower wages and poor working conditions.
Practically speaking, the debate is now only about unions in the private sector.
The U.S. Supreme Court's Janus decision in 2018 ended the practice of public employee unions being able to require employees to pay dues to support them.
Several dozen union members rallied outside the State House prior to Thursday's debate.
The legislation didn't come up, however, until eight hours after the House had begun its business.
By then there were only a small number of union supporters sitting in the gallery.
The House has rejected similar legislation since the 1970s.
