Kentucky Republicans Pass Right-To-Work, Dropping The Hammer On Unions

[Norbert]

Source: Huffington Post


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due to the 2016 elections on Saturday, when Kentucky Republicans gave final approval to right-to-work legislation and repealed the state’s prevailing wage law.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.


Kentucky is the last holdout in the South without an anti-union right-to-work law on the books. For decades, labor unions and Democrats fended off such measures, which diminish union membership and weaken the labor movement. But when Republicans captured the state House in November, they paved the way for passage of the legislation. The law will apply to all new labor contracts, but will not affect current agreements.


Unions and Democrats mounted a last-ditch effort to stop the legislation this week, holding protests at the state capitol building in Frankfort saying the bills would drive down wages. But Republicans now have overwhelming control of both the state Senate and the House. Kentucky’s governor, Matt Bevin, is a Republican who won office in 2015.


Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/kentucky-republicans-right-to-work_us_58701cc6e4b043ad97e38561?q43u1ogjc5me31h5mi

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Kentucky's march toward being East Kansas continues.

[guillaumeb]

1. Kentucky workers voted for these people, and the same workers will suffer

because of their votes.

And as their wages continue to decline, will they look for outsiders to blame?

[Nay]

2. Yep. One just wonders exactly when karma will become visible to these voters.

When their kids starve? When they live in a cardboard box? When the only job available that pays anything is selling opiods in back alleys? When their daughters die of coat hanger abortions?

[Laurian]

3. My first thought as well. Most of the union workers in KY

likely voted for Trump. They fell for his diatribes about walls and crooked Hillary without giving the first thought to the Republicans' decades long effort to gut unions.

I grew up in a union household and am acutely aware of the benefits unions provided. I bet most union members today have never walked a picket line and are oblivious to the sacrifices of union members in the past who suffered great hardships to ensure their rights. They've become complacent and content to entrust their well being to insincere blowhards.

I'd say they've become lazy, but I wouldn't want to be accused of not "understanding" them.

[INdemo]

6. My argument to these Union members that backed Trump was

"you want the wages and benefits that goes along with being a Union member yet you will step in the voting booth and vote for the son-of-bitch that wants to take all of that away"?....Then I say "you wanna back a fucking Republican go down the street and work for a scab outfit"........There is usually a lot of silence after I make my statements...or threats .

[RBInMaine]

11. Yup. Vote for Republican scum and that's what you get. They deserve to SUFFER!!! PERIOD!!!

[agincourt]

4. I think everything that labor has fought for in the past,

is in danger of being overturned now. American workers need to start fighting back soon, they need to figure who the real enemy is for a change, instead of believing what corporate media feeds them. It can't be said enough.

[montanacowboy]

5. Does this include the United Mine Workers?

dumbfucking hillbillies
Enjoy your descent in Hell

[Stonepounder]

7. Not all Union members voted for Trump.

My son is a union member, and is about as liberal as they come. He voted for Bernie in the Primaries and Hillary in the General Election. He has consistently voted against The Turtle and for Democrats.

There were numerous reported irregularities here in Ky - exit polls skewed way out from vot counts, voting machines registering wrong votes, etc. But since the GOP has controlled the legislature (even though Ky had a (D) Gov, (D) Lt. Gov, (D) SecState, and (D) Atty Gen, somehow amazingly enough we got all (R's) in the last election. But, nah, it wasn't rigged.

[RBInMaine]

10. No excuses and no conspiracy theories please. They voted for this shit and they got it. GOOD!

[Stonepounder]

13. I have no clue what you are talking about.

Way too many posts refer to 'all'. Yes, there are a lot of low-information voters in Kentucky. But not all voters, or even all Union members are Trump supporters. How is that an excuse? Did the election result in a majority of the votes going GOP? Of course. How does that somehow become 'all'?

Just because I live in Kentucky does that somehow make me an al-right voter? My local precinct would be very surprised to hear that, since I have been a registered Democrat all my life, as have 4 of my 5 kids.

[Norbert]

14. I still say this election was stolen

How can a +5 for Conway on election morning turn into a Bevin +9 rout?

[lancelyons]

8. We do weak protests while they keep changing the laws in their favor.

We do weak protests while they keep changing the laws in their favor.

Its like they are strong and ruthless and we are nice and protesty.

Who wins.

[RBInMaine]

9. Good! Good! Good! Burn them to ground! They voted for this! They deserve it!!!

Vote for shit and you get shit! Welcome to life under right wing Republicanism there you working class people who vote Republican! I hope they drive you straight into eternal poverty! You fucking get just exactly what you vote for!!!

[DemocraticWing]

16. Fuck you! I didn't vote for this shit and I don't deserve to suffer because you say so!

[Percy Cholmondeley]

12. Stolen elections have consequences

And it wasn't just the Russians. Kris Kobach is getting off pretty easy here. There's no doubt his crosscheck dirty trick has put a lot of Republicans in office around the country who should have lost. But I couldn't help noticing that since the KGB dude, Vladimir, helped the GOP mightily, they won't condemn his crime, and it's a serious crime. So treason is OK if you're a republican. Any person who would vote for a state- or federal-level republican is voting for a traitor, or an accomplice of a traitor. The destruction of the middle class is only beginning. They must be pretty confident that the age of fair elections in this country is finished, or they wouldn't be so brazen. Lincoln said ""Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power."

[Feeling the Bern]

15. They always vote Republican. This is what they get. Give it to them good and hard. No sympathy.

[DemocraticWing]

17. I didn't vote for any of this shit and neither did many other people.

You all want every one of us to suffer for the mistakes of a the majority (and really, just a majority of voters since Bevin won in a low-turnout election.)

And before you all start talking about how "that's what you deserve for not voting" the Democrats OPENLY ADMITTED TO WANTING A LOW TURNOUT ELECTION.

The incompetence of the Democratic Party did this, not the workers, women, and other people having rights stripped away. Hell, Bevin is trying to destroy the University of Louisville because the city of Louisville is too liberal.

[Initech]

18. Republicans run on jobs platforms, then do everything they can to destroy them.

The Bible was right - the dark one poses as a creature of light.

[Bucky]

19. that's the problem with KY, too damn many people making too much money

maybe they can do something about the problem of too many Kentuckians having health insurance next

[Cha]

20. Hope the con voters are happy.