Goldwater Institute has its way on anti-union bills

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Speaking of the evil bastards at the Goldwater Institute/ALEC who have sponsored four anti-union bills this session, they apparently have found a way to get two of their bills stalled in the House to move forward again in the Senate.

"The original anti-union Senate bills – SB1484 and SB1486 – were both assigned to the House Employment and Regulatory Affairs after senators approved them, but the House committee wrapped up its work for this session without hearing them." The Arizona Capitol Times (subscription required) reports Supporters find another avenue for anti-union bills stuck in House – Arizona Capitol Times:

With two anti-union bills stuck in the House, supporters are hoping to rescue the legislation by amending another measure to carry the controversial provisions.

The amended measure, HB2103, now contains provisions from the two stuck Senate bills, including a prohibition on automatic salary deductions for union dues unless public employees expressly authorize them each year and a prohibition on compensating public employees for time spent doing union activities, a practice known as “release time.”

And just like the version that sailed out of the Senate earlier, the bill carves out an exemption for police unions, which means law enforcers can still be paid while representing their colleagues in disciplinary hearings but they can’t be compensated for recruiting activities and participating in union-organized conventions.

* * *

The bill sailed through by a 4-to-2 vote during a hearing by the Senate Government Reform Committee today.

The measure still needs to get the full Senate’s approval. But that shouldn’t be a challenge for backers since senators already passed the original anti-union Senate bills.

But it remains to be seen whether the House will act on the proposal.

Really? We have a Tea-Publican legislature that hates working people and unions — I can't imagine they do not want to pass these bills.