Kentucky Republicans Push New Right-to-Work Law Through Committee

On the first day of the state’s new legislative session, Republican members of Kentucky’s House Economic Development and Workforce Investment Committee approved House Bill 1, a law requiring unions to negotiate for and represent people even when they refuse to pay dues.

The committee – called the Labor and Industry Committee until it was renamed by the new Republican majority– also approved a bill repealing the state prevailing wage law and preventing cities and counties from having their own prevailing wage standards for projects not involving state money.

Finally, the committee approved legislation that would require unions to collect annual authorization cards to deduct union dues directly from paychecks.

All three bills won along straight party lines with no Democrats in support.

Each bill contains an “emergency” clause, meaning they go into effect the moment they are signed by the governor.