Skip to main content

What I've Been Reading This Week: Right to Work Edition


Even though it has been a shorter work week because of Thanksgiving, I was still able to find some time to read through a few interesting labor related articles lately.  In this particular instance, I found some good notes about 'Right to Work' developments around the country that I think warrant a post dedicated to the topic.

As always, below are a few articles that caught my eye this week.


Could Right to Work Be Headed to Kentucky?

Interesting note about the recent loss of Democratic candidate Jack Conway, who was running for governor in Kentucky.  As Jason Hart writes, Republican candidate Matt Bevin won the race with a platform that included making Kentucky the 26th right to work state.  Even though Conway received a fair amount of money from big labor, it apparently was not enough to get him into office.  Interesting to see whether anything happens in the state now with a Republican governor.



The Kansas City Star has a good look at the impact that the failed right to work legislation in Missouri has had on Republicans (and also Democrats) in the state.  Readers might remember that earlier this year, right to work legislation failed to pass in the state as Democrats and a handful of Republicans joined together to defeat the measure.  Now, some Republicans and their supporters are looking to purge the Republican politicians who helped Democrats defeat the legislation.  Things are so contentious, in fact, that all five of the Republican candidates running for governor have pledged to sign right to work legislation.  Interesting to see if Missouri Republicans can eventually get right to work legislation passed...


Ohio Might be the Next Right to Work State

Late last month, Cincinnati Republican Tom Brinkman proposed right to work legislation in the state.  While this article just gives a brief snippet of the proposed legislation, it provides some arguments that have been raised by proponents and opponents of right to work legislation that I think readers might enjoy.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

NLRB: Discussion Among Employees About Tip Pooling is Protected Concerted Activity

  This Advice Memorandum from the National Labor Relations Board’s Associate General Counsel, Jayme Sophir, addressed whether employees which discussed and complained about tip pooling at work constituted protected concerted activity. In relevant part, an employer in New York operated a chain of steakhouses.  While tip pooling was in place at these steakhouses, some of the employees objected to it on the grounds that it was not transparent and improperly divided tips among the workers.  Employees were told not to complain or talk to each other about the tip pool and were told that doing so would endanger their jobs.  Despite the employer later attempting to provide some clarity as to how the tips were being divided, rancor still existed among some employees.  At one point, the employees were told by a general manager that some employees that had been talking about the tip pool were “cleared out” and the employer would continue to do so. In the Advice Memorandum, it was noted that emplo

Happening Tomorrow: Connecticut’s Minimum Wage Increases

For those employers and employees alike in Connecticut, mark your calendars as tomorrow, the minimum wage rate increases in the state from $13/hour to $14/hour. This wage hike comes after Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont had signed Public Act 19-4 into law in 2019 which progressively raised the state’s hourly minimum wage rate every year for five years.  In fact, next year, the hourly wage rate will top out at $15/hour.  Beginning in January of 2024, the hourly wage rate will be indexed to the employment cost index. For additional information:   https://portal.ct.gov/Office-of-the-Governor/News/Press-Releases/2022/06-2022/Governor-Lamont-Reminds-Residents-That-Minimum-Wage-Is-Scheduled-To-Increase-on-Friday

What I’ve Been Reading This Week

A few years ago, I remember when the “Fight for $15” movement was taking off around the country.  Lo and behold, it appears that a $15/hour minimum wage is not the stopping point, which should be no surprise.  As the below article notes, New York is aggressively moving to ramp up hourly wage rates even higher.  While all the  below articles are worth a read, I called particular attention to that one. As always, below are a couple article that caught my eye this week. Disney World Workers Reject Latest Contract Offer Late last week, it was announced that workers at Disney World had rejected the most recent contract offer from the company, calling on their employer to do better.  As Brooks Barnes at The New York Times writes, the unions that represent about 32,000 workers at Disney World reported their members resoundingly rejected the 5 year contract offer which would have seen workers receive a 10% raise and retroactive increased back pay.  While Disney’s offer would have increased pa