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Wisconsin's Right-to-Work Bill: Approved by Senate Labor Committee, Moves to Full Senate

Overpass Light Brigade

UPDATE: The Senate labor committee hastily approved the Right-to-Work bill 3-1 after the chair ended the public hearing early for fear there would be disruptions later.

ORIGINAL POST: Several thousand protesters rallied outside the Capitol Tuesday, while people inside testified for and against a right-to-work bill.

Rick Esenberg, president of WILL, Wisconsin Institute of Law and Liberty, testified in support. He told committee members that workers should not have to accept what they don’t want.

“More productive workers, for example, who don’t want lock-step compensation systems. Younger workers who don’t believe that seniority should be the sole determinant of who is laid off. Workers who would rather have steady employment at a lower wage in the boom or bust cycle of layoffs and callbacks, workers who don’t like the causes that the union supports or the candidates that it contributes to. All of these must, nevertheless, financially support the union,” Esenberg said.

Outside the Capitol, demonstrators criticized right-to-work. One was Daryl Olson, a sheet metal worker.

“You know what freedom looks like to me? Freedom looks like making a good living, having a voice in the workplace and being able to take my dad to a doctor’s appointment. The millionaires and billionaires pushing right-to-work in Wisconsin could care less about our freedom. What they really care about is silencing our voices,” Olson said.

Before demonstrators began assembling at the building Tuesday morning, two busloads of police arrived from the state patrol, capitol police force and DNR. Officers scanned the building with bomb-sniffing dogs.

Labor organizers summoned supporters to Madison to express opposition to the right-to-work legislation Republican leaders are sponsoring. Proponents insist workers should not be forced to join unions or pay dues. Opponents claim the bill is designed to lower wages and weaken worker protections.

The Walker administration says the public will be allowed to come and go, during today's nine-hour public hearing. But, when it ends at 7 P.M., police will close the Capitol.

Four years ago, thousands of union supporters camped in the building to oppose Act 10, the GOP plan that weakened most public unions in Wisconsin.

Tuesday's public hearing on right-to-work is the first chance the public has had to weigh-in on the legislation. Republican Senate leaders formally scheduled an extraordinary session on the bill, Monday and then set Tuesday's hearing and committee vote.

If committee members approve the measure, the full Senate could vote  Wednesday and send the bill to the Assembly, where passage is expected.

Gov. Walker says he would sign the plan into law, if it reaches his desk. In that case, Wisconsin would become the 25th state to criminalize mandatory private-sector union dues.

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