NH Rep.: Demonstrable population shift to Right To Work States

NH Rep.: Demonstrable population shift to Right To Work States

Time for population in New Hampshire to retain its youth with jobs, rather than watching graduates leave the state. But, employees' rights to freedom of association should be sufficient.  NH Rep. Patrick Abrami explains why he supports Right To Work and believes it is best for the Granite State: On Wednesday, Oct. 12, there most likely will be the override vote of Gov. John Lynch's veto of the Right-to-Work bill. My vote for the override will be driven by my belief that every person should be allowed to establish a relationship with their employer. This in no way should impede an individual's right to join and support a union. The reality is that in the 21st century, most employers are enlightened and realize they are competing for talent in the marketplace. Therefore, most employers treat their employees well, just as I and my fellow partners do with our 30 employees at my company. This is one of the reasons why only 10 percent of workers are unionized today. Unions are a good check against the handful of not-so-enlightened employers. Thus, unions are a check on employers. To me, Right to Work is a check on unions. If a union is enlightened, it will do great service for its members without jeopardizing the solvency of the companies from which their members draw a salary. If they don't, then the members should have the right not to abide by a union's dictates and be given the ability to form a relationship directly with their employers. If that argument is not sufficient, consider the following and draw your own conclusions: Congressional seats gained Right-to-Work states total: 11 Non-Right-to-Work states total: 1

Time for Kentucky to Get Right to Work

Time for Kentucky to Get Right to Work

Enacting a Right to Work law in Kentucky would be a boon for jobs and economic prosperity -- but don't just take our word for it.  The Bowling Green Daily News agrees: Gov. Steve Beshear and the Democrat-controlled House are beholden to labor unions in this state and for that reason, year after year we continue to lose companies and jobs to other Southern states because Kentucky is not a right-to-work state. Right-to-work laws protect workers’ freedoms by not forcing them to pay dues to a union upon becoming employed or throughout employment. Nearly any citizen in a right-to-work state is protected by a state’s right-to-work law. Labor unions make up less than 9 percent of Kentucky’s workforce, so it would make sense that Beshear and the House would have more concern for the majority of the workforce. Sadly, they don’t. They need the unions, who contribute millions of dollars every election year through political action committees or other ways to encourage the governor and those in the House to follow part of their agenda, which is not allowing Kentucky to become a right-to-work state. Kentucky is the only Southern state not to have a right-to-work law. For that reason, many companies don’t even consider our state when choosing plant locations. Business 101 would tell you that this is simply bad business. The governor and House are hindering our state because they ignore reality. Shame on them. It reflects poor leadership and it holds our state back when competing for jobs that could be coming to Kentucky. Simpson County Judge-Executive Jim Henderson is a strong supporter of the right-to-work concept. Henderson said on a number of occasions during the process of trying to get a company to come to Franklin, it was eliminated because of not being a right-to-work state. He said it was communicated through correspondence and other means of communication that not having a right-to-work law is why companies aren’t coming to his city.One only has to look at companies such as Nissan North America. The company admitted that one reason it decided to move its headquarters from California to Tennessee and not Kentucky was because of the lower business costs. Interestingly enough, the average Kentuckian has to work 13 months to make what an average Tennessean can in one year.