NYT: New Hampshire Senate Approves Bill Curbing Unions (will become 23rd right to work)

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/22/us/22newhampshire.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=unions&st=cse

By KATIE ZEZIMA
Published: April 21, 2011

The latest battle front over limitations on unions has opened in New Hampshire, where a law is expected to be adopted that would prohibit unions from collecting mandatory fees and disallow collective bargaining agreements that require employees to join a labor union.

The State Senate passed the bill Wednesday — by a veto-proof vote of 16 to 8 — that would make New Hampshire the 23rd right-to-work state, and the first in the Northeast. The House passed a similar bill in February.

“I thought it was simply a freedom-of-choice issue,” said State Senator Raymond White, a Republican who supported the bill. “At the end of the day it’s simply a bill about does a person have to pay union dues?”

The two houses of the Legislature must work out a compromise bill that will be sent to Gov. John Lynch, a Democrat, who has said he will veto it. The bill will then return to the Legislature for an expected override vote, at which point it will become law.

“The governor has been clear he would veto this legislation,” Colin Manning, a spokesman for Mr. Lynch, said in an e-mail. “The governor does not believe the state should be passing laws dictating the terms of contracts between private employers and workers.”

FULL story at link.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

1. I continue to be amazed at the retrenchment it what many consider pro labor states