Friday, February 20, 2015

WI anti-union bill would criminalize mandatory dues, membership

And, by extension, organizing?
Read the text:

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2015


 4:14 PM 

Right-to-work bill would make requiring someone to join union, pay dues as part of employment class A misdemeanor 

Requiring anyone to join a union or pay dues to one as a condition of employment would be guilty of a class A misdemeanor under the right-to-work bill draft released this afternoon by Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald's office.

Here is the Legislative Reference Bureau's summary of the bill:

"This bill creates a state right to work law. This bill generally prohibits a person from requiring, as a condition of obtaining or continuing employment, an individual to refrain or resign from membership in a labor organization, to become or remain a member of a labor organization, to pay dues or other charges to a labor organization, or to pay any other person an amount that is in place of dues or charges required of members of a labor organization. Any person who violates this prohibition is guilty of a Class A misdemeanor.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Given Wisconsin's koch-Supreme Court and the media echo chamber that created our divide and conquer governor -- you can bet that multinational corporate interests will claim that organizing is now criminal.

It won't happen right away, but it will happen. Walker is looking to pick a fight with the feds. It is what he white house bid will be based on.

And milwaukee journal sentinel will prop it all up.

CJ said...

Someone elses omment from another blog.

"Workers vote on whether or not to have a union. They also vote for their leadership. This is democracy in action. It is certainly not coercion.

Should you be exempt from paying your taxes and still be able to benefit from police and fire services, among many other?

Coercion is government inserting itself in private labor-management contracts."

Anonymous said...

If you can be fired for not paying union dues, you can't tell me there isn't coercion.

If money is automatically deducted from a paycheck and handed over to someone else, then coercion exists.

I worked at a place that went out of business and 1000 people lost their jobs - the union rules and practices caused it.