Wisconsin right-to-work debate leads to Minnesota invitation

ST. PAUL - A Minnesota legislator has invited two Wisconsin businesses to set up shop west of the border after they testified against Wisconsin right-to-work legislation that is expected to pass Thursday.
Rep. Pat Garofalo, R-Farmington, sent letters to the firms after they told a Wisconsin Senate committee they oppose a right-to-work bill that is on a fast track to pass. The bill removes a requirement that workers in shops represented by a union either belong to the union or pay dues.
Testimony from officials of road construction companies Hoffman Construction of Black River Falls, Wis., and Rock Road Cos. of Janesville, Wis., told a Senate committee that they oppose right to work attracted Garofalo’s letter.
“Wisconsin’s right-to-work legislation would negatively impact the private contracts between these companies and the unions they have voluntarily decided to partner with,” Garofalo said. “It’s heavy-handed and wrong for Wisconsin to inject government into these private contractual relationships that has worked well for private companies for decades.”
The Wisconsin State Journal reported that owner Bill Kennedy of Rock Road urged senators to vote against right to work.
“This bill will hurt the way I and many of my counterparts do business,” Kennedy said. “We work in partnership with our local unions.”
The full Wisconsin Senate approved the bill and the Assembly is expected to do so on Thursday.
A Wisconsin representative who represents Hudson and other areas just across the border from Minnesota disagreed with fellow Republican Garofalo.
“My colleagues and I will continue to do what is best for Wisconsin,” Rep. Dean Knudson said. “We have full confidence that our record of lower taxes, less regulation and an attractive business climate stands strong against Minnesota’s choice to tax and spend.”
Knudson, a former Hudson mayor, said that no one should be forced to join a union to hold a job.
“This is a simple issue of worker choice and freedom,” Knudson said. “In Wisconsin, Republicans adhere to the words of Ronald Reagan: ‘It should be the right of the individual whether he wants to belong to a union.’ Our party believes in individual freedom and choice, as reflected by our actions.”
While many legislative Republicans want Minnesota to pass right to work, state law continues to allow unions to collect dues from nonmembers in union shops. The issue has come up from time to time in Minnesota, but Democrats generally are strongly opposed to changing existing law, so it has not gained enough traction to pass.