Press Releases

On Wednesday, June 3 at 10:00 a.m., Governor Pete Ricketts (R-NE) will testify at a hearing chaired by House Committee on Education and the Workforce Chairman John Kline (R-MN). The hearing, entitled “Compulsory Unionization through Grievance Fees: The NLRB’s Assault on Right to Work,” will take place in room 2175 of the Rayburn House Office Building.

In 1947, Congress passed the Taft-Hartley Act, which amended the National Labor Relations Act to allow states to prohibit compulsory union membership. Known as a “right-to-work” law, this state-based policy ensures union membership cannot be a condition of employment and employees cannot be required to pay union dues and fees. Twenty-six states and territories have passed right-to-work laws. In April, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) invited public comment on whether the board should adopt a rule permitting unions to collect fees from nonmembers for grievance processing. Such a change would depart from long-standing labor policy and undermine employee protections provided under state right-to-work laws.

Tomorrow’s hearing will provide members an opportunity to explore right-to-work laws and how suggested changes to the grievance process would affect workers. To learn more about the hearing, visit www.republicans-edlabor.house.gov/hearings.

 

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WITNESS LIST

The Honorable Pete Ricketts
Governor
State of Nebraska
Lincoln, NE

Ms. Elise Gould
Senior Economist and Director of Health Policy Research
Economic Policy Institute
Washington, DC 

Mr. Mark Mix
President
National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation
Springfield, VA

Mr. Walter Hewitt
MIS Director
United Way of Southeastern Connecticut
Gales Ferry, CT

Mr. Robert Bruno
Professor
University of Illinois
Champaign, IL