By a vote of 225 to 140, the New Hampshire House concurred with the Senate’s version of the New Hampshire Right to Work Bill

New England Citizens for Right to Work Press Release: Right to Work Passes General Court Concord, NH – By a vote of 225 to 140, the New Hampshire House concurred with the Senate’s version of the New Hampshire Right to Work Bill (H.B. 474) today, sending the bill to Governor Lynch’s desk. Once Governor Lynch receives the bill, he has 5 days to either sign the bill into law, let the bill become law without his signature or veto it and send it back to the General Court, where it will take a two thirds vote of each house to override his veto. If the bill becomes law, New Hampshire would be the twenty-third state to pass a Right to Work law, which simply states that no worker can be forced to join or pay dues to a labor union just to have a job and feed their families. Right now, over 68,000 workers in New Hampshire are forced to pay union dues as a condition of employment. “A New Hampshire Right to Work law would simply restore workers' ability to decide for themselves whether or not to join or pay union dues or ‘fees’ to a union official,” said John Kalb, Executive Director of New England Citizens for Right to Work. Polls conducted in New Hampshire show that nearly 80% of Granite State citizens believe it is wrong to force workers to pay union dues just to get or keep a job. Governor Lynch has publicly stated his intention to veto the bill. Kalb said, “Governor Lynch has already promised his Big Labor benefactors that he will veto the Right to Work Bill. But if Right to Work supporters keep up the pressure, we have a good chance of overriding the Governor’s veto and making Right to Work the law of the land in New Hampshire.

Daniels: Right To Work Law “As Soon As Possible”

"If we are serious about growing the economy and creating jobs, it is imperative that the Legislature pass right-to-work as soon as possible," opines New Hampshire State Rep. Gary Daniels. Daniels understands that his state can become a bastion of prosperity in the heavily taxed and over regulated Northeast, becoming a new haven for job creation -- if only the governor would get out of the way: Most state legislators hear regularly from our constituents about their top concerns. While the national debt and international engagements certainly carry a great deal of interest nationally, and balancing the budget without raising taxes or fees garners a lot of attention at the state level, by far the top issue remains creating good, new jobs and getting our economy growing robustly again. That's why it is so critical for New Hampshire to pass a law to become the 23rd right-to-work state and the only one in the Northeast. One of the major initiatives of this Legislature is creating and reestablishing pro-economic growth policies that are so critical for drawing businesses to the state and creating jobs, and then maintaining that environment so that businesses have the opportunity to succeed. Right-to-work is a major part of the puzzle. What is right-to-work? In short, it guarantees that no employee will be forced to join, or not to join a union, or pay dues or fees to a union, to get or keep a job. These days, finding steady employment is difficult for many people. However, it's simply unacceptable that anyone should be forced to pay dues or fees to a union to get or keep a job. How far we have strayed from the words of Samuel Gompers, the founder of the American labor movement, when he said, "The workers of America adhere to voluntary institutions in preference to compulsory systems, which are held to be not only impractical, but a menace to their rights, welfare and theirliberty," further noting that "no lasting gain has ever come from compulsion."