New+Hampshire+Senate+Approves+Bill+Curbing+Unions

= New Hampshire Senate Approves Bill Curbing Unions = =By KATIE ZEZIMA= =//Published in The New York Times//= =//4/22/11//=

=The latest battle front over limitations on unions has opened in New Hampshire, where a law is expected to be adopted that would prohibit unions from collecting mandatory fees and disallow collective bargaining agreements that require employees to join a labor union.= =The State Senate passed the bill Wednesday -- by a veto-proof vote of 16 to 8 -- that would make New Hampshire the 23rd right-to-work state, and the first in the Northeast. The House passed a similar bill in February.= =I thought it was simply a freedom-of-choice issue, said State Senator Raymond White, a Republican who supported the bill. At the end of the day it's simply a bill about does a person have to pay union dues?= =The two houses of the Legislature must work out a compromise bill that will be sent to Gov. John Lynch, a Democrat, who has said he will veto it. The bill will then return to the Legislature for an expected override vote, at which point it will become law.= =The governor has been clear he would veto this legislation, Colin Manning, a spokesman for Mr. Lynch, said in an e-mail. The governor does not believe the state should be passing laws dictating the terms of contracts between private employers and workers.= =The battle over the legislation has been especially rancorous for New Hampshire. Protests were held at the Capitol in Concord last week, unusually loud and vitriolic events in a state where only 11 percent of employees are union members.= =We see this as an attack, really, on the middle class and working people and on our ability to negotiate, said Mark MacKenzie, president of the New Hampshire A.F.L.-C.I.O. ''Our economy is doing better than most. There is no public outcry for right-to-work in the state.''= =The vote illustrates the major political shift that occurred in November, when conservative Republicans took a majority of the House and swept into the Senate, replacing the moderate bloc.= =These are not your typical New England moderate Republicans, said Dante J. Scala, a professor of political science at the University of New Hampshire. They're more libertarian-minded Republicans that think unions should be out of the question in a contract between employee and employer.= =Like Republicans in other states, supporters in New Hampshire say the legislation is a way to improve a business climate in which there is competition with businesses in neighboring states.= =Right to work means more economic growth and more jobs here in New Hampshire, plain and simple, House Speaker William O'Brien and the majority leader, David Bettencourt, said in a statement.= =Labor groups plan to mobilize for the veto fight with rallies this weekend and calls to legislators.= =The antiworker group has taken control of the State Capitol, Mr. MacKenzie said. This is a street fight now.= = =

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