Contact: Alan Raff araff@nhaflcio.org (603) 714-0258
January 19, 2017Joint Statement of the leaders of New Hampshire AFL-CIO and its affiliates, the National Education Association of New Hampshire, the State Employees Association, the New Hampshire Carpenters, and the New Hampshire Teamsters following the Senate passage of so-called “Right-to-Work” legislationConcord – “Today the New Hampshire Senate passed the so-called “Right-to-Work” bill. This bill is not about improving New Hampshire’s economy or increasing the freedoms of any worker in the Granite State. Instead it is an attack on all working families by special interests seeking to lower wages for everyone and undermine worker protections. This bill is designed to do one thing and one thing only: limit employees’ ability to advocate on behalf of what’s best for their families and communities.
This bill will silence the teachers who advocate on behalf of smaller class sizes for our children, the transportation employees who negotiate for the equipment they need to keep the roads clear after a blizzard and the police and firefighters who negotiate for the staffing levels they need to keep us safe. It would take away the voices of tradespeople like ironworkers, pipe-fitters and line workers who negotiate the safety standards that keep entire industries safe.When working people aren’t able to have a voice in what’s best for our communities, we all lose.New Hampshire deserves real solutions to real problems, not attempts to limit working people’s voice in their communities. The legislature was elected to advocate for the best interests of all New Hampshire working families, and we urge them to remember that. As the bill moves to the House we’ll continue to do what we’ve always done: Stand with working families across the state to create a New Hampshire that works for everyone.”###
