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New Hampshire AFL-CIO
Jun 1, 2007
The New Hampshire legislature today passed SB 216, which will allow public employees to form bargaining units when a majority of the workforce has signed authorization cards, certified by a neutral party.
"Majority authorization is fair and democratic" said NH AFL-CIO President Mark MacKenzie. "This bill provides public employees with another option and allows the majority of employees to make a decision and seek recognition. The changes also preserve the election process for workers who cannot reach a clear majority in a workplace, stated MacKenzie.
In addition to recognizing the work of the bill's sponsors, Sen. Martha Fuller Clark, and Representatives Jim Ryan, Mo Baxley, Ben Baroody, Jeff Goley, and Steve Johnson, MacKenzie thanked one of the presidential candidates, former Senator John Edwards. Prior to today's vote, Senator Edwards wrote to his New Hampshire supporters, saying "I am convinced that if individuals can join the Republican or Democratic Parties by simply signing their names to a card, any worker in America ought to be able to join a union by doing exactly the same thing. By protecting a worker's right to join a union, we give more Americans the opportunity to lift themselves out of poverty and into the middle class, which is why I have been all over this country the past few years working with over 20 national unions organizing thousands of workers into unions."
Senator Edwards is also a strong supporter of the Employee Free Choice Act, national legislation that would give private sector workers the same right to majority authorization that New Hampshire public sector workers will gain with SB 216. The Employee Free Choice Act passed the Congress with the co-sponsorship of New Hampshire Representatives Paul Hodes and Carol Shea-Porter, and is awaiting action in the Senate.
Q&A: Educational Disparity
John Edwards answers a question about educational disparity at Hanover Middle School in Hanover, N.H. on September 27, 2007
Paid for by John Edwards for President Contributions to John Edwards for President are not tax-deductible for federal income tax purposes.
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