Republicans file bill to mandate more public sector union elections

Yahoo

29-01-2025

Opponents of the bill argued that union members can already petition to have a vote to decertify their union. (Photo by Dave Cummings/New Hampshire Bulletin)
A new proposal in the state House of Representatives seeks to require more union elections among public employee unions.
If passed, House Bill 735 would call for a new vote on whether to recertify a public employees union once the number of employees that joined the union since the previous vote outnumber the ones who were present for the previous vote.
'This bill is basically just term limits for unions,' Milton Republican Rep. Michael Granger, the sponsor of the bill, said at a hearing in Concord Tuesday. 'Unions should represent their members and if they do a good job at it, it should be no problem to recertify them.'
The bill is co-sponsored by fellow Republicans.
'We need this to make sure unions aren't just perpetually protecting their little fiefdom and saying 'this is our little workplace and we own it forever,'' Granger said. 'The workers would have the opportunity to say, 'OK, well, thanks for all your help over the years, but we think we need a different union supporting us.''
Rep. Mark MacKenzie, a Manchester Democrat, pointed out that union members can already petition to have a vote to decertify their union.
'Are you suggesting that's not sufficient?' MacKenzie asked. 'That if people are unhappy with what they currently have, that that structure is not enough?'
Granger alleged many workers believe their union would 'use intimidation or scare tactics in order to scare people against decertifying a union.'
'Since most government unions were founded in the 1960s and '70s, few if any of the public employees who voted for these unions are still on the job,' added Rep. Melissa Litchfield, a Brentwood Republican who co-sponsored the bill. 'Unionized employees should be empowered on a regular basis to choose what union, if any, will represent them.'
Glenn Brackett, president of the New Hampshire AFL-CIO and a member of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, testifying in opposition to the bill Tuesday, reiterated that federal law presently allows workers to decertify their union.
'If people don't want to be part of a union they fill out cards and they can call for union elections,' he said. 'The process is already in place.'
Brackett argued this bill would create a process too bureaucratic and burdensome, saying if it became law, it would be 'a quagmire.'
'Nothing would move forward,' he continued. 'But I would also put it out this way: What if every year, instead of every two years, members of this Legislature had to go up for reelection?'
Brackett said New Hampshire has a history of workers switching their representation from one national or international union to another.
Brian Ryll, president of the Professional Firefighters of New Hampshire, also opposed the bill Tuesday, saying that the decertification process already in place has 'worked for many years and it's worked well.' He said his organization, which represents 43 local unions in New Hampshire, has seen unions be decertified.
'The idea that there may be a strong-arming of sorts to keep members in a union simply does not occur,' he said. 'At least in our profession in New Hampshire. So I just wanted to quell that rumor.'
Richard Gulla, president of the State Employees Association/Service Employees International Union 1984, also opposed the legislation Tuesday.
'Supporters of this bill are trying to restrict the freedom of nurses, teachers, firefighters, police officers, and other public employees to come together, to have their voice heard,' Gulla said. 'These folks who serve our community have the right to protect their retirement and health care as they see fit. And anti-union extremists in our state capitol are trying to restrict, to that end, our rights.'
This comes as a right-to-work bill is also being debated in the Legislature. House Bill 238, sponsored by Windham Republican Rep. Daniel Popovici-Muller, would prohibit collective bargaining agreements from requiring employees to join or contribute to a union in New Hampshire.
On Tuesday, the House Labor, Industrial, and Rehabilitative Services Committee voted narrowly, 10-9, to recommend that the bill be approved. The bill will now be debated by the entire state House of Representatives.
This type of legislation, known as right-to-work, has been proposed repeatedly in New Hampshire for decades. It has continually failed to become law. However, after Gov. Kelly Ayotte, who has said she would sign a right-to-work bill if it was approved by the Legislature, and a new slate of Republican lawmakers won election in November, proponents of the bill hope this year is different.
If the right-to-work proposal is adopted, New Hampshire would become the only New England state and one of 27 states across the country with a right-to-work policy.