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Kentucky Passes Right to Work

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With lightning speed following the seating of the new Republican controlled legislature, Kentucky has become the 27th state to enact Right to Work legislation. The Governor signed the bill on January 7. Missouri could be close behind.

 
Not only did Kentucky pass Right to Work—which means no worker can be forced to pay union dues as a condition of employment—the legislature as also eliminated the right of public employees to strike. And it is considering repeal of the Commonwealth’s prevailing wage law. If it does it will have carried out the trifecta the Allegheny Institute has called for in Pennsylvania for many years.

 
Prevailing wages and the right of public sector employees to strike, especially teachers and transit workers is an affront to good governance, Madisonian foundational principles of a self- governing people, and the public weal.

 
Michigan, Wisconsin, Kentucky, Indiana and soon Missouri are showing the way back to economics as determined by market forces of supply and demand, entrepreneurship and liberty and away from government interference and distortions. There will be hue and cry from the unions’ aggrieved membership but their intransigence has produced slow growth, job losses and overbearing government for far too long to warrant getting their way any further.

 
Kentucky marks the fifth state in just over four years to adopt Right to Work. Maybe Pennsylvania will see the light and get there in the next four.

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Allegheny Institute
Allegheny Institute

The Allegheny Institute is a non-profit research and education organization. Our mission is to defend the interests of taxpayers, citizens and businesses against an increasingly burdensome and intrusive government.

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