By Berry Craig AFT Local 1360 on Yesterday, January 6
The Wisconsin State AFL-CIO is circulating an online petition in solidarity with unions in Kentucky where the Republican-majority legislature is poised to pass a “right to work” law, repeal the prevailing wage and approve a measure to further weaken organized labor by making it harder for unions to collect dues through payroll deduction.
“Our brothers and sisters in Kentucky are facing egregious union-busting attacks from their state legislature this week,” said a statement from the Badger State labor federation signed by President Phil Neuenfeldt and Secretary-Treasurer Stephanie Bloomingdale.
Sign the solidarity petition here.
The GOP enjoys large anti-union majorities in the Kentucky House and Senate. All three bills are expected to be approved and signed by Republican Gov. Matt Bevin, possibly as early as Saturday.
Union-busting has been at the top of Bevin’s agenda since he was elected in November, 2015. The Democrats controlled the House during the 2016 session of the General Assembly and thus were able to thwart the governor and his anti-union Republican senate.
On Nov. 8, the GOP maintained its Senate edge but flipped the House from 53-47 Democratic to 64-36 Republican. The swift assault on organized labor was not unexpected.
“Republicans in Kentucky have decided to kick off their new legislative session with Right to Work and other union-busting legislation designed to lower wages and slash basic workplace safety and rights for all workers,” the statement also said.
In addition, the statement paraphrased the motto of the old Knights of Labor, a pioneer 19th-century union: “an injury to one is an injury to all.”
The statement said the “anti-worker bills, designed to lower wages for all working people and further erode the rights of union workers who put a check on corporate power and greed, are being rushed through in a so-called ’emergency legislation’ leaving absolutely no time for public debate and input. Dangerous and destructive bills like right to work, paycheck deception and the elimination of prevailing wage are an attack on our entire middle class.
“Workers are sounding the alarm and speaking out against these bad bills by gathering at the state Capitol in Frankfort, but the Republican majority are refusing to hear them. Union members have even been locked out of committee hearings and unable to give testimony. This is a true erosion of democracy.”
On Thursday, the Wisconsin AFL-CIO sent a solidarity letter to the Kentucky State AFL-CIO. “Attacking the rights of working people to stand together and have each other’s backs in the workplace through their union does nothing to create jobs or help the middle class,” the letter said.
When Wisconsin’s Republican Gov. Scott Walker declared holy war on organized labor, several Kentucky union members traveled to Madison, the state capital, to stand in solidarity with their brothers and sisters.
Despite large protests that included many union members from other states, Wisconsin’s Republican legislature, encouraged by Walker, approved a RTW law in 2015. The governor and his GOP lawmakers enacted other measures to crush Wisconsin unions.
The statement with the petition included a postscript: “Workers will be packing the Kentucky state capitol in Frankfort, Kentucky on Saturday at 8:00 a.m. to stop Right to Work and other anti-worker bills. Click here for rally information.
Wisconsin Bail Out the People Movement 
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