With the legislature convening next week, Iowans are preparing for a frontal assault on its worker protections afforded by the state’s Right to Work Law.
Governor-elect Chet Culver has vowed to sign into law any forced-unionism legislation that reaches his desk and Big Labor is pressing the Democrat House and Senate to give him an opportunity. As readers know, workers in states without Right to Work protections can be fired if they don’t pay union dues or fees.
Just the threat of changing the law is already having an impact on jobs in the state. House Minority Leader Christopher Rants said that efforts to repeal or modify Iowa’s Right to Work Law could drive away at least one prospective employer looking to expand in Sioux City.
According to the Sioux City Journal, “Rants said he has been asked not to divulge details about the company that local officials are courting. In a meeting with the Quad-City Times editorial board Tuesday, the Republican House leader described the company as a ‘hot prospect’ that ‘definitely would go away if Iowa no longer is a right-to-work state.’
“‘I have been told that it’s a company that is very interested in whether or not Iowa is a right-to-work state,’ Rants said in an interview later in the day with the Journal. ‘They’re not looking to expand in places that aren’t.’”