(C) Daily Montanan This story was originally published by Daily Montanan and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Union workers fill Capitol halls rejecting ‘right-to-work’ legislation – Daily Montanan [1] ['Nicole Girten', 'More From Author', '- February'] Date: 2023-02-17 The first floor hallway of the Capitol was overflowing with union workers with signs reading “stop the war on workers” as legislators held a hearing on a bill that would impact union members’ ability to organize in Montana. More than 80 opponents testified against the legislation in the House Business and Labor committee Friday. Similar legislation also drew crowds of opposition when proposed in the 2021 session. Proponents for House Bill 448 say it would stop “forced unionization” and would follow 27 other states with similar legislation. The bill would mean an employee would not have to pay dues in order to receive the benefits of union membership in an organized private sector workplace, unions said. “‘Right-to-work’ is not anti-union,” said Rep. Caleb Hinkle, R-Belgrade, who sponsored the 2021 bill. “‘Right-to-work’ is pro-individual and gives that individual a choice on whether that union is worthy of their hard-earned money.” Among the four proponents for the bill were representatives from Americans for Prosperity, which supports “right-to-work” initiatives across the country, Montana Citizens for Right to Work, as well as the National Right to Work Committee. Hinkle’s “right-to-work” bill died on the House floor last session 38-62. Another “right-to-work”-style bill introduced this session was tabled in committee earlier this month. Amanda Frickle, political director for the Montana AFL-CIO representing nearly 40 unions in the state, said that workers already have the ability to choose whether to join a union and that no one in Montana, nor elsewhere in the U.S., is forced to join. Frickle critiqued aspects of the bill like requirements employers post a sign about the law, telling employees it would be illegal under this law for an employer to discriminate if an employee refuses to join. “Unions are democracy in the workplace,” Frickle said. “Montana would simply not be the state we are today if it were not for working people who stood together and fought for their chance to get a simple fair share of what they helped to build.” Montana has a storied history of union support, as thousands of workers moved to Butte and Anaconda to mine the “richest hill on earth” at the turn of the 20th century. Support for dozens of union organizations followed as negotiations ensued with the Copper Kings, especially after the 1917 Granite Mountain/Speculator Mine fire, which saw over 160 casualties. Twelve bipartisan legislators who said they were current union members stood behind Frickle at a rally following the hearing on the Capitol steps. Rep. Derek Harvey, D-Butte, said he’s been a union firefighter for 13 years. “Blood has been spread on the streets of my district for the rights that we have. For the past several weeks, I’ve seen out-of-state interests lurking in the halls of this building trying to change that,” Harvey said, to boos from the crowd. “We’re not going to let anybody in this building forget that unions make Montana.” Sen. Jason Small of Busby described himself as the “Republican union guy.” “I take a lot of heat,” Small said, to which someone in the crowd yelled back, “Thank you!” Small was joined by fellow Republican Rep. Gregory Frazer of Deer Lodge who said he was proud to be in a local Montana Federation of Public Employees union. In the hearing, union workers talked about the importance of collective bargaining to benefits like health insurance. Jim Starcevich, a union carpenter from Butte, said his son spent six days in the hospital after being diagnosed with a rare condition associated with COVID-19. “If we did not have my union benefits, that would have ended up being a bill I’d be paying off for the most of my life,” he said. “But because we receive excellent health insurance, the only thing we had to worry about was our son’s health.” Bill sponsor Rep. James Bergstrom, R-Buffalo, said the bill is not about “busting up unions.” “If the labor union is doing what the members want them to do, then the members will keep paying their union dues,” he said in closing. “If union leadership is not using the dues paid in a way that the members would like, then the members will exercise their First Amendment rights and stop paying union dues.” Workers also talked about the differences they see working in neighboring states that have “right-to-work” laws, like Idaho, saying pay, benefits and safety regulations were better in Montana. An Economic Policy Institute study on “right-to-work” in 2021 in Montana found that the median hourly wage of union workers in Montana is $22.85, compared with $16.95 for nonunion workers, and nationally union workers make 11% more. Heather McDowell, vice-president of legal, environmental and government affairs at Sibanye-Stillwater, a mining company with a processing facility in Sweet Grass County, says the union provides safety training. During questioning, Rep. Steve Gunderson, R-Libby, asked McDowell if the culture of safety was from the union or from the Mine Safety and Health Administration. She said it was the union over MSHA requirements. “We think the unions make it easier for us to achieve our safety goals,” she said. The committee did not immediately take action on Friday. [END] --- [1] Url: https://dailymontanan.com/2023/02/17/union-workers-fill-capitol-halls-rejecting-right-to-work-legislation/ Published and (C) by Daily Montanan Content appears here under this condition or license: Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/montanan/