I am here today to testify in opposition to HB 735.
This bill is a solution in search of a problem. In the Granite State our public sector unions represent the teachers and paraeducators who teach our children, the firefighters who come out in any weather to put out the fire when our house is burning, the police officers who respond when there has been a break in at our homes, the highway department workers who plow, salt or sands the road to make it possible for us to get where we are going, and many others. The point is, these are the people who keep our Granite State communities running. They are friends, neighbors and taxpayers: they live here, and raise families here. They deserve the opportunity to be treated fairly and with respect on the job and way they get that respect is through their unions.
Unions are the only way to level the playing field so that ordinary working people can collectively negotiate a fair bargain with their employer, in this case a town, city, school district or state. And NH voters overwhelmingly support unions and collective bargaining as a way for average working families to get ahead especially in the economy. In fact, a bipartisan RABA Research poll of NH voters completed in the past week found that 90% of Granite State voters believe workers should be able to join a union if they choose and 91% oppose government interference in collective bargaining arrangements. Requiring more frequent automatic recertification votes for already existing unions is government interference in collective bargaining.
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