“Right to work” sputters in New Hampshire
The anti-worker “right to work” measure in New Hampshire that once seemed inevitable to pass has lost steam as more people become educated about the issue. A second attempt to gather enough votes to override Governor Lynch’s veto failed yesterday.
Not only are lawmakers and citizens increasingly aware of how the bill, HB 474, would depress wages, infringe on workers’ rights, and interfere with how businesses negotiate with their employees – they are also becoming disgusted with the threats, bribes, and strong-arm tactics of the bill’s main promoter, House Speaker William O’Brien, and his allies.
The behavior of Speaker O’Brien in particular caused House Deputy Majority Leader Matt Quandt and House Whip Tim Copeland, both Republicans, to resign their leadership posts on Wednesday, a huge blow as anti-worker forces make their push to ram through HB 474.
Copeland, who is new to the NH House, told this story of Speaker O’Brien to demonstrate the disturbing trend:
Copeland was most troubled by an incident off the House floor while he was waiting to meet O’Brien. He heard O’Brien loudly berate Rep. Susan Emerson, R-Rindge, who proposed an amendment to restore some funding to the Health and Human Services budget. “It was embarrassing,” he said. “There was a group of school children a few feet away waiting to sing the national anthem and you could hear him shouting at her (Emerson). The children could hear it and the teacher with them could hear it. The teacher asked me, ‘Is this the way you do things?’ and I said ‘It shouldn’t be this way.’
There have been many other incidents: Speaker O’Brien removed fellow Republican Rep. Lee Quandt from his committee post after he spoke out against HB 474. State Senator Sharon Carson, also a Republican, received a threatening phone call at home over her pro-worker stance from a man who identified himself as a GOP Town Committee Chairman. And there have been reports of Speaker O’Brien promising campaign money to lawmakers who are on the fence if they vote to pass the bill.
You can add to this Speaker O’Brien’s calling public employees “thugs,” and asking some reps to stay home on the day of the vote so that the two-thirds majority could more easily be reached.
Matt Quandt, a veteran legislator, commented: “There is just a ruthlessness in the way they are doing things. They don’t want to listen to other voices.”
He added, “I wasn’t elected to dismantle state government or help Bill O’Brien.”
For all his aggression, Speaker O’Brien’s tactics have proved unsuccessful. For the second time yesterday, he tried to gather enough votes to override the veto of the right to work. For the second time, he failed.
Yes the people of New Hampshire are seeing the light as well as the Republicans. Why do you think they are jumping ship? If you think it is because of the reason they are giving now you are wrong. Why did they wait so long and then just now step forward when the country is up in arms over the Paul Ryan attack on Medicare? This attack on public employees has been going on for months and in reality for years. The Republicans are running for the hills because they see how unpopular their agenda is to the people of this country. They are looking at the next election and if they are re-elected don’t expect them to keep supporting union workers. When will people learn a politician will do almost anything to get elected? Just look how unpoplular their declared candidates for president are even with their own party. Why do you think all of a sudden they trying to side with the Democrats? Did they switch parties? No they did not so do you think you should really trust them to not beieve in what their party is doing?
To unionproud how can you say Obama has no guts when it comes to union workers? What do you call it when he bucked the whole Republican party and gave loans to the auto companies? Who do you think works at these companies? These are union workers who now have a job and others are going to be newly employed thanks to Obama and the Democrats who stood up for these workers and faced the wrath of every nonunion state and their representatives in this country. I call that guts. What do you call going after and capturing Bin Laden? I call that guts. If you want to vote for a Republican just on his word that he all of a sudden has seen the light and likes unions then go right ahead. But there is one thing we know for certain now and that is that the Republican party wants to get rid of Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, Veterans benefits and yes, UNIONS. Everything that benefits the Union workers when they retire would vanish if it was up to their party. So how can any person who calls themselves unionproud say they would vote for someone who is against everything they say they believe in?
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