The Main Street Post

Gov. Tom Corbett

HARRISBURG PA — On the surface, Pennsylvania may look like the next front in an ongoing battle between Republicans and big labor which flared up in Michigan last week as lawmakers there approved so-called “right-to-work” legislation. Don’t expect it to happen here anytime soon, though, The Pennsylvania Independent online news service reported Friday (Dec. 14, 2012).

All is quiet on the labor front in Pennsylvania, at least for right now, The Independent reported, and Gov. Tom Corbett indicated he does not plan on changing that.

Like Michigan – and Indiana and Ohio, where similar battles have occurred — Pennsylvania has a Republican governor and a Republican-controlled Legislature.  Like those other states, it has a long history of powerful labor unions.

During an appearance last week on a Philadelphia talk radio show, however, Corbett said Pennsylvania lacks “the will” to pass right-to-work legislation. It was not a top priority for him as the Legislature gears up for a new session in January, he said.

• Read a story by reporter Eric Boehm, titled “Unions have broad appeal in PA, staunching right-to-work efforts” and published Friday by The Independent, here.

HARRISBURG — Businesses and organized labor in Pennsylvania are clashing over a proposal to eliminate the mandatory payment of union dues by non-union employees in some professions,” The Pennsylvania Independent online news service reported Tuesday (Aug. 16, 2011).

A package of bills, introduced this session by state House Republicans, seeks to repeal state laws requiring all state workers, local government employees and public school teachers to pay dues, even if they choose not to join a union, it said.

Business groups claim the compulsory dues are an affront to freedom and the so-called “right-to-work” laws would increase personal income and job creation.  Right-to-work means that employees are not required to join labor unions or pay union dues, even if they choose to work in a union shop.

• Read a story by reporter Eric Boehm, titled “Right-to-work measures latest battleground between business, labor” and published Tuesday in The Independent.