CONCORD – Today, NEA-NH President Megan Tuttle submitted testimony in opposition to Senate Bill 61, a bill to make New Hampshire a Right to Work state.
Dear Mr. Chairman and Members of the House Labor Committee,
On behalf of NEA-NH and the 17,000 educators we represent in collective bargaining I write to you once again to say, so-called “right to work” is wrong for New Hampshire.
Time and time again this legislation has been rejected under Republican and Democrat controlled legislatures and governors.
Some of you may be wondering why NEA-NH would still be opposed to a right to work bill when the US Supreme Court has essentially imposed it on public sector workers through its decision in the Janus case. That court decision did not change a simple fact that workers in both the public and private sector have the right to join or not join a union. That was true before Janus and it remains true today.
We continue to oppose this bill because we know what right to work legislation is. It is not about worker freedom; it is simply an attempt by certain monied interests to weaken unions and it is a slippery slope. Should you pass right to work after decades of NH wisely turning this bill away, anti-union opponents will be back with the next item from the American Legislative Exchange Council or Americans for Prosperity playbook. Those organizations do not hide that fact that one of their missions is to dismantle unions and limit the rights of workers in our country, both union and non-union.
This context ought to be one of the key factors state representatives consider when deciding whether to start NH down the slippery slope of the anti-worker agenda by adopting this legislation.
I urge you not to set us down this path and please continue resist this unwise agenda by finding Senate Bill 61 Inexpedient to Legislate.
