AFT-New Hampshire Praises NH House for Voting Down ‘Right-to-Work’ Bill

CONCORD, N.H.—The following is a statement from AFT-New Hampshire President Deb Howes on the state House of Representatives’ vote opposing a “right-to-work” bill, HB 238-FN, which would prohibit collective bargaining agreements from requiring employees to join or contribute fair share fees to a labor union:

“We are grateful the New Hampshire House once again rejected a so-called right-to-work bill, recognizing it as the union-busting scam that it is. A bipartisan coalition of commonsense legislators stood with the overwhelming majority of Granite Staters to support workers’ rights. Membership in a labor union provides workers with what they need, including better wages and working conditions, lower risk of workplace injuries and deaths, and health insurance. Unions representing educators, for example, are able to negotiate decent wages and working conditions so that students have what they need to excel.”

I am here today to express our staunch opposition to SB 295.

The NH Constitution places a high value on educating the children of the Granite State. In Part 2, Article 83, the NH Constitution guarantees each Granite State child the opportunity for a robust public education through public district schools and places the responsibility for paying for it squarely on the state. I use the word robust because it is clear the term “adequate” used in the constitution does not have the commonplace meaning of just barely enough, but rather an education sufficient to prepare the student for working life, further studies and full civic participation in the community after finishing school. We saw the overwhelming support for robust public education in the hearing to pare back the 

I write to express the overwhelming opposition of my members to HB 283. All of our public school students have the right to a robust, well rounded public education that prepares them for career, the workforce, higher education and full participation in the civic life of their communities. Not only do all students have this constitutional right in New Hampshire, but it is the state’s obligation to fund it. 

This bill would lower the quality of the education many of our students receive by limiting the subjects considered in the state’s funding formula to Math, English/ Language Arts, Science and History. Anything else would be extra and presumably could be provided at local expense. Many of our local school districts are already

We support HB 655 because there are hungry kids in New Hampshire. As of Sept 2024, almost 40% of Granite State children live in households that don’t have enough food, at least some of the time.

And since we know these children are in New Hampshire, we know that many of them are in our public schools. I know because I have seen them. My members see them on any given day. My members often dig into their own pockets to keep a stash of easy snacks in their classrooms for those in need. Why do we do this? Because we know that hungry kids have a harder time paying attention to their schoolwork. Hungry kids often have more off tasks behaviors and disrupt learning for other students. Hungry kids sometimes act out. What they don’t do is learn as well as they could.

I am here today to express our support for SB 206.

AFT-NH supports SB 206 because giving our educators and students distraction free learning time to focus on learning during the school day is just good common sense. 

We support this bill because the current system isn’t working. As cell phones have become a common, and constant companion for teens, preteens, and even some elementary school students, the issues this causes in our classrooms have multiplied. Cell phones have become a distraction from the learning tasks at hand, competing with the teacher for the attention of students. With ready access to social media aps, student cell phone use during the school day can increase student anxiety, add to feelings of stress, decrease in-person communication and inflame incidents of cyberbullying.