This Labor Group Is Pushing Back Against New Right-To-Work Initiative

12.22.2014 | Daily Surge |

The union-backed group Keep Ohio’s Heritage responded Monday to neighboring Kentucky becoming the first state with a right-to-work county.

“Kentucky Republicans are engaging in a tactic that has union supporters in neighboring Ohio paying very close attention,” Keep Ohio’s Heritage said in a press release. “Now it seems the first county has fallen to the controversial legislation.”

Keep Ohio’s Heritage, an associate of the International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE) Local 18, was organized to stop Ohio from adopting right-to-work legislation. Such legislation would allow employees to choose whether they want to join a union.

On Friday, Warren County in Kentucky became the nation’s first county to adopt a right-to-work ordinance. Simpson County and Fulton County are also considering similar measures.

“While it’s disheartening to see, I feel that we can learn some valuable lessons from this new strategy,” Pat Sink, business manager for Local 18 said in a statement. “Labor advocates will have to adapt, but as long as we continue to push our message to the public and debunk the ‘benefits’ of this type of legislation we can continue to hold it back.”

Sink continued, “It’s important for labor supporters and unions everywhere to incorporate that same vigilance in the fight against it.”

However, others argue that giving employees the choice on whether to join a union is the right move.

Brent Yessin, an attorney for the right-to-work group My Check My Choice, earlier told The Daily Caller News Foundation, “It is an expansion of employee rights.”

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