Posted on 01/08/2017 2:58:05 PM PST by blam
Mish Shedlock
January 7, 2017
In a major setback for organized labor, Kentucky passed right-to-work legislation and repealed the state’s prevailing wage law.
“Organized labor suffered its first major legislative setback due to the 2016 elections on Saturday, when Kentucky Republicans gave final approval to right-to-work legislation and repealed the state’s prevailing wage law. Both bills are expected to be signed into law by the governor, and will take effect immediately.
Labor leaders were equally troubled by the legislature’s move to gut the state’s prevailing wage law. Such laws require that employers pay certain minimum wages on work funded by public money. Backers of the laws say they help make sure companies accepting taxpayer dollars don’t drive down wages and working conditions. Opponents argue they inflate the cost of public works projects.
The repeal means prevailing wages will no longer apply to construction workers building schools and government buildings.
Charlie Essex, the financial secretary for Local 369 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers in Louisville, called the measure “an attack on union people.” He estimated that the prevailing wage law applied to more than 30 percent of union construction work in Kentucky.
Backed by business lobbies, Republican lawmakers around the country have been aggressive in pushing right-to-work bills and prevailing wage repeals in recent years. When Democrats lose control of a statehouse chamber or the governor’s mansion, they are often powerless to stop them.
Long confined to the South and West, right-to-work proponents have recently made inroads elsewhere in the country, including even the industrial Midwest. Since 2012, Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin and West Virginia have all gone right-to-work. Kentucky will be the 27th such state, making it more the norm than the exception around the country.”
(snip)
(Excerpt) Read more at mishtalk.com ...
I know a guy working on the piers making $150,000 a year. Enough with the b*******.
Good for Kentucky. Don’t sit back and make Trump do all the hard work. States can achieve a lot legislatively while the left is fighting Trump.
I’m a staunch conservative, but there’s got to be something better than the intentionally misnomered “right to work” legislation. I’m not a union supporter, either, but right to work is only good for businesses, not employees. I live in a rtw state. Basically, an employer can terminate an employee for any reason or no reason at all, without notice. Employee handbooks explain it as “You can leave for any or no reason, without notice, without penalty, and the company can terminate under the same terms.” But if a person leaves without notice, when his prospective new job HR calls the company he left, he will ask, “Is he eligible for rehire?” Which is just a sneaky way of getting an illegal bad report. If a person deserves to be terminated, fine. But companies can easily use this law unfairly.
I quit all of them.
Never had a problem finding or keeping a job. If you need help keeping a job, you're doing something wrong.
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I’m a staunch conservative, but there’s got to be something better than the intentionally misnomered “right to work” legislation. I’m not a union supporter, either, but right to work is only good for businesses, not employees. I live in a rtw state. Basically, an employer can terminate an employee for any reason or no reason at all, without notice. Employee handbooks explain it as “You can leave for any or no reason, without notice, without penalty, and the company can terminate under the same terms.” But if a person leaves without notice, when his prospective new job HR calls the company he left, he will ask, “Is he eligible for rehire?” Which is just a sneaky way of getting an illegal bad report. If a person deserves to be terminated, fine. But companies can easily use this law unfairly.
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Easy solution that doesn’t take the govt to institute: Hire yourself.
The positions filled by employers are NOT the possession of the employed.
There should be a national right to work law.
Same here.
I do alot of subcontracting on prevailing wage projects. Here in Minneapolis the LEAST I can pay a basic laborer is 49 bucks an hour. Absolutely ridiculous.
When someone is terminated, they are usually given two weeks severance (sometimes more) which is equivalent to two weeks notice, except they don’t have to work those two weeks and can use those days looking for a new job.
“I live in a rtw state. Basically, an employer can terminate an employee for any reason or no reason at all, without notice.”
Pretty sure the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prevents that.
I'm in an "at will" employment state. My company can dump my butt anytime they want, and need not disclose a reason.
But they don't. Why? Because I'm productive enough to be worth my salary.
“employer can terminate an employee for any reason or no reason at all”
I think that’s called “right of association”, and it’s a natural right that should not be infringed for anyone.
"But they don't. Why? Because I'm productive enough to be worth my salary."
Exactly, me too!! Thank You.
Employers used to come looking for me, the people they hire to find me are called 'head-hunters'....they called all the time.
No, it doesn’t, unless an employer gives a reason for termination that is against the civil rights act. Nobody’s that dumb.
Maybe if you’re in a nice cushy white collar job, but I’ve seen lots of people fired, and the only ones who ever got severance pay was a manager. Maybe you live in a friendlier state.
I watched it live — it was a lot of fun!
And I am not even from KY.
I don’t personally have a problem. I’m in a field that has a huge shortage, but I’m not a union advocate. But then, I also think employers should treat their help good.
>>Pretty sure the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prevents that.<<
Not in RTW states. All employment is “at will” and the employer need give no reason for termination.
Now if there are contracts in place, union or otherwise, they have to be followed.
The CRA just says you can’t terminate b/c of a select list of things. The trend has been towards the employee having to prove these things were the reason for termination.
“””””””When someone is terminated, they are usually given two weeks severance (sometimes more) which is equivalent to two weeks notice, except they don’t have to work those two weeks and can use those days looking for a new job.””””””””””””
I have been an employer for 40 years. I have never paid a penny in severance pay. And if someone quits and gives me notice they will realize that the only thing I notice is that they are being pushed out the door, with no pay.
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