JOINT PRESS RELEASE: At Legislative Hearing, Broad Coalition of Labor Groups Urge Lawmakers to Reject Union Busting Bill that Will Increase Taxes

CONCORD, NH – Today, the New Hampshire House Labor Committee held a public hearing on HB 1704, the latest union busting bill proposed by anti-labor lawmakers who want to weaken workers’ rights and collective bargaining. At the time of the public hearing, 761 people had signed in to oppose HB 1704; 21 individuals had signed in to support HB 1704.

In response to HB 1704, labor group leaders issued the following statements:

"This bill is unnecessary government overreach into cities' and towns' business that will create administrative chaos, increase costs, and turn normal labor disputes into criminal investigations. This is not reform — it is a deliberate attempt to weaken collective bargaining, and municipalities will pay the price, meaning New Hampshire taxpayers will pay the price through increases in property taxes.” said Glenn Brackett, New Hampshire AFL-CIO President.

Megan Tuttle, President of NEA-New Hampshire, stated: "As educators, our union membership and collective bargaining rights ensure we have a real voice in the decisions that affect our classrooms, students, workload, and professional lives. Let’s be clear–efforts to weaken our collective bargaining rights, like HB 1704, are efforts to silence educators. History shows that when workers’ rights are rolled back, working conditions decline–and students pay the price."

“This bill creates endless chaos and added costs for taxpayers while weakening our members’ voices in the workplace. It sets up a second, parallel bargaining system that allows individuals to cut side deals with their employer and even tacks on criminal penalties for basic First Amendment advocacy. Between the paperwork, the opportunities for favoritism, and the legal risks tied to these new penalties, this bill is a recipe for fragmentation, not freedom.” said Deb Howes, AFT-NH President.

Rich Gulla, SEA/SEIU Local 1984 President, added, "By weakening bright-line bargaining obligations, the bill would force agencies and central administration to manage labor relations on a case-by-case basis, increasing inconsistency, legal risk, and executive-level intervention in matters that are currently resolved through predictable statutory processes. Rather than reducing bureaucracy, HB 1704 would centralize conflict, increase litigation, and expose the administration to greater operational and political risk."

“HB 1704-FN weakens worker protections, increases costs, creates workplace chaos, and undermine the ability of public employers to provide public services.” said Richard Laughton, Teamsters Local 633 Business Agent.

Background Information:

• HB 1704 Undermines Exclusive Representation – the Core of Collective Bargaining: Exclusive representation is the legal foundation of collective bargaining. Allowing individuals to opt out fractures bargaining units, drains union resources, and replicates the core effect of Right-to-Work laws: benefit from union contracts without supporting the union.
  • The bill explicitly allows individual bargaining outside the union: “Independent bargaining” shall mean negotiating with a public employer… without intervention of an employee organization
  • This directly weakens the legally certified exclusive representative: “Exclusive  bargaining representative” shall mean any employee organization certified…
• Under HB 1704, Employees Can Opt Out of Union Representation While Keeping Benefits: This creates free riders—employees who benefit from union-negotiated wages, healthcare, and job protections without contributing. This mirrors Right-to-Work laws, which weaken unions by starving them financially.
  • The bill prohibits contracts from requiring representation: “No agreement… may require employees who opt for independent bargaining to be represented by a union”
• HB 1704 Bans Union Influence Over Individual Grievances: This bill removes union protections during disciplinary processes. Without trained union reps: workers are more vulnerable to retaliation; due process is weakened; and employers gain leverage over isolated employees. This dismantles collective enforcement of workplace rights—another hallmark of Right-to-Work systems.
  • The bill states: “No collective bargaining agreement may limit an employee's ability to negotiate or adjust grievances directly”
• HB 1704 Creates Administrative Chaos: Collective bargaining is efficient. This bill replaces one table with hundreds, increasing HR costs and legal exposure.
  • Under HB 1704, employers must:
    • Negotiate hundreds of thousands of individual contracts
    • Track different pay scales, benefits, and grievance procedures
    • Manage legal risk from inconsistent agreements
• HB 1704 Exposes Employers to Discrimination Lawsuits: Ironically, unions protect employers by standardizing contracts.
  • When individuals negotiate separately two workers doing the same job may earn different pay and benefits and conditions will vary arbitrarily.
  • This creates massive exposure to:
    • Pay equity lawsuits
    • Discrimination claims
    • Favoritism allegations
• HB 1704 Criminalizes Normal Labor Activity: This is unprecedented. Under HB 1704, public employees could be forced into criminal investigations, routine labor disputes become law enforcement matters, and labor relations statewide will be destabilized. 
  • The bill makes violations a Class A misdemeanor: “Violations… are a class A misdemeanor”
  • It also criminalizes traditional labor activity making constitutionally protected speech/activity illegal: “Any strike,  picketing, boycott… intended to induce prohibited agreements is illegal”
• HB 1704 Forces Employers to Break Existing Labor Agreements: This forces employers to: renegotiate contracts midstream; risk breach-of-contract litigation; and lose labor peace stability.
  • The bill voids agreements: “Any agreement… violating employee rights under this section is unlawful, null, and void”

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