A right to work bill, H.F. #352, was introduced in the House this year by Representative Steve Drazkowski (R – Mazeppa) and three other GOP co-authors known as the “New Republican Caucus.”
This bill, similar to the one Drazkowski introduced in 2018, states that employees have the right to work under and benefit from a Union contract without being required to become a member or pay fees to a labor organization. As we know, this is nothing more than a right to freeload and an attempt to divide workers in order to weaken Unions.
This has only been introduced in the House, and there is no companion bill in the Senate. Members should know this bill is not a threat in any way at this time. The bill doesn’t have the votes to get out of the House or the Senate. Even when Republicans controlled the House during the last four years, right to work bills never had the votes to pass. In fact, a right to work bill has never passed any committee of the Minnesota House in at least the last few decades.
We have led the fight against right to work and any other legislation intended to weaken Unions in Minnesota for the last decade. Ohio is the only other state in the country during this time – with Operating Engineers also leading the strategy – where Republicans had control of government and the ability to put right to work forward but didn’t. We have been tremendously successful educating Republicans on this issue, and we can count on more than a dozen Republican Legislators to oppose and vote against any right to work bill under all circumstances.
Local 49 continues to work with both sides of the aisle to ensure elected officials from both political parties understand why right to work laws don’t make sense, and are bad for workers and our economy.
“Local 49 members have led the fight against right to work laws entering Minnesota for a decade,” said Jason George, Local 49 Business Manager. “We are very proud of the fact that right to work is a dead issue and doesn’t have very much support even amongst Republicans in Minnesota. We will continue to ensure that remains the case by educating elected officials about the fraudulent claims of right to work advocates and the damage these types of laws do to workers and our economy.”
Here is the short list of Republicans sponsoring this bill, feel free to call or e-mail them and tell them to stop supporting the ability for people to freeload off the backs of dues paying Union members:
Rep. Steve Drazkowski 651-296-2273 or rep.steve.drazkowski@house.mn
Rep. Cal Bahr 651-296-2439 or rep.cal.bahr@house.mn
Rep. Tim Miller 651-296-4228 or rep.tim.miller@house.mn
Rep. Jeremy Munson 651-296-4240 or rep.jeremy.munson@house.mn
