MADISON, WI (WTAQ) – Another public hearing is set for Monday on Wisconsin’s right-to-work bill.
The Senate passed it by 2 votes Wednesday night, and the Assembly’s labor committee will be the next to take testimony.
Panel chairman Andre Jacque, a Republican from De Pere, said the hearing could last around 10 hours — but it could go longer, as long as it doesn’t turn into what he called a “filibuster.”
Minority Democrats said the hearing should last for as long as it takes to get everybody heard.
A number of people had registered to speak, but could not do so when a Senate panel abruptly ended its hearing on Tuesday night. Jacque told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel he would consider a request by Democrats to delay the start of the right-to-work law by 90 days after the governor signs it.
Senate Democrats failed to get that through the upper house, and Jacque says he wants to hear the rationale for it.
The measure would prohibit employers from requiring workers to join unions or pay union dues. Any existing contracts would remain in force until they expire — and Democrats say the delay would give unions and companies a chance to extend their labor deals if they wish to do so.
(Story courtesy of Wheeler News Service)
