Monday, December 18, 2017

RELEASE: State Representative John Becker Announces Six Right-to-Work Constitutional Amendments

COLUMBUS—State Representative John Becker (R-Union Township) today announced six Right-to-Work related constitutional amendments as follows:



• Private-sector Right-to-Work – No worker should be required to subsidize a union as a condition of employment. Additionally, this amendment will tell the world that Ohio is “open for business.”



• Public-sector Right-to-Work – This legislation is about freedom of association. The same as the private sector, no worker should be required to subsidize a union as a condition of employment.



• Public-sector Prevailing Wage – Repeals the requirement for taxpayers to pay artificially inflated wages, rather than those that are market-based.



• Public-sector Paycheck Protection – This amendment prohibits state and local government employers from withholding union dues or fees from workers’ wages. Additionally, unions will be prohibited from spending workers’ money on political activities without workers’ consent.



• Public-sector Project Labor Agreements – This legislation is the Michigan model approved by the US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. State and local government entities will be prohibited from minimizing competition for construction projects by requiring that only union or non-union labor can be considered. A level playing field will be required.



• Public-sector Union Recertification – Requires annual reconsideration and recertification of workers’ bargaining units. This amendment will open up competition for new bargaining units, will give workers a chance to have their voices heard, and will make union leadership accountable to their membership.



With these proposals, Becker asks Ohio’s General Assembly to put all of them on the ballot for the people to vote on individually.



“Now that 28 states, and four out of five of Ohio’s neighboring states, have enacted Right-to-Work laws, the nation’s future is for all workers to have the right to work free of the burden of mandated union payments as a condition of employment,” said Becker. “Ohio is being left behind, and it is time for the people to decide Ohio’s future.”