AFT and AFT-NH Leaders Blast New Hampshire’s Right-to-Work Bill

CONCORD, N.H.—Leaders of the American Federation of Teachers and AFT-New Hampshire blast S.B. 61, the New Hampshire right-to-work bill, which has a House Labor, Industrial and Rehabilitative Services Committee hearing on March 25 and a likely House floor vote on April 8 or 9:

AFT President Randi Weingarten said:

“This bill is all about silencing the workers who have been on the frontlines helping us during the COVID-19 pandemic—the fast-food workers, carpenters, steelworkers, utility workers, health workers and others who are integral to our towns and cities. Right-to-work legislation makes it harder for workers to organize as a union and have a seat at the table. It is a relic of the Jim Crow South, when bosses did not want Black workers in unions and forced unequal access to economic opportunity.

“Not allowing workers to have a voice in the workplace—whether they work for private companies or in the public sector like teachers—denies them agency in their own lives and the ability to access what we all want for our families: a decent job with good wages, a safe workplace and the ability to save for retirement with dignity. Unions provide a path to a better life, and every person deserves that freedom to thrive, fueled by opportunity, justice and a voice at work. New Hampshire voters want the opportunity for a better life, not an attempt to derail it with a right-to-work bill.”

AFT-NH President and State Rep. Doug Ley said:

“The last thing New Hampshire workers need is a law that would depress wages, reduce or eliminate benefits, and stifle the voice of workers. If we want to show that our state is good for business and good for workers, a right-to-work law is a move in the wrong direction. Right-to-work laws are about the right to work for less pay, less voice, less dignity. Let’s not go down that miserable path.”