PRESS RELEASE

Contact: Douglas Ley, AFT NH  President
Phone: (603) 831-3661

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
2:00 P.M. EDT, January 18, 2017

BOW, NH -  AFT-NH President Douglas Ley released the following statement on the nomination of Representative Frank Edelblut as Commissioner of Education.

“Just as AFT on the national level has expressed strong opposition to the nomination of Betsy DeVos as Secretary of Education, we are gravely concerned about a Commissioner of Education who, when running for governor, supported further diverting much needed funding and resources from our public schools.   Our teachers and school district employees are trained professionals who have dedicated a lifetime to serving NH students. There is no evidence based on Mr. Edelblut’s public record that he either has the experience in education or public service on the local level that demonstrates the requisite knowledge and understanding to lead NH schools and serve more than 180,000 students, our State’s most precious resource.” 

AFT-NH represents approximately 4,000 teachers, school support staff, city and town employees, police officers, library employees, and higher education faculty. AFT-NH is a member of the New Hampshire AFL-CIO and is the state affiliate for the American Federation of Teachers with more than 3,000 local affiliates nationwide, 43 state affiliates, and more than 1.3 million members.

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A new report issued by the Economic Policy Institute, January 12, 2017 shows clearly that passing a so-called Right to Work law will only hurt the NH advantage. In 201l,  we successfully fought off attacks and were supported by Governor Hassan’s veto on RTW. In 2012,  Indiana passed a right to work bill. In a nutshell, “NH’s economy is stronger and our citizens are better off”.  The link to the article is provided below. You can link to the full report here.

“In 2011 and 2012 two states, New Hampshire and Indiana, debated the same bill: so-called “right-to-work” legislation, pushed by corporate lobbyists and the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), designed to weaken unions financially and pave the way for greater corporate dominance of state politics. New Hampshire’s governor vetoed the bill in 2011. Indiana, by contrast, enacted it in 2012. It is instructive to compare the two states. By almost any measure, the economy of New Hampshire is stronger and its citizens are better off, on average, than the citizens of Indiana. Right-to-work did not improve the Indiana economy relative to New Hampshire’s, and no one should be fooled into thinking that passing right-to-work now will improve the New Hampshire economy."

The NH State Senate Commerce Committee, after hundreds appeared in opposition at a public hearing today, have recommended passage of the so-called Right to Work bill by a vote of 3-2.

We thank Senators Donna Soucy and Bette Lasky for voting against this bill fueled by out of state interests. This union busting legislation will proceed to the full Senate for a vote. It is clear that the NH Senate republicans have put this bill on a fast track.

Stay tuned for updates and gear up to fight this battle until the last vote is counted. We stand together to fight for NH working families and for strong unions.

The NH Senate Commerce Committee will be hearing a Right to Work (for less) bill, Senate Bill 11, on Tuesday, January 10th at 1pm. The hearing will be held at the NH State House in Representatives Hall. This bill has been scheduled quickly and has been cited as a priority by Governor Chris Sununu and the GOP majority.

We know this is wrong for NH and will hurt NH’s economy and working families. This bill has been defeated repeatedly for thirty years and nothing has changed to justify this legislation.  This a blatant attempt to weaken the voice of working familes and unions because the proponents know that when unions are strong all workers have highers wages not just union workers. To read more, please click here.

 Let's join union members and allies from across NH and stand together to help defeat this destructive legislation.

AFT-NH Legislative Bulletin  January 6, 2017