By Mike Hall Last November, when New Hampshire’s working families counted heads at the state legislature, they didn’t see very many pro-working family lawmakers. Republicans controlled the House 284–116 and held an 18–6 majority in the Senate. So when “right to work” legislation surfaced in January—backed by the well-financed National Right to Work Committee (NRTWC)—it almost seemed “like a done deal,” recalls Paul Stokes, president of the New Hampshire State Employees Association/SEIU Local 1984.
“We knew we had to bring the local unions together, engage the membership at the local level and motivate and mobilize them,” says New Hampshire AFL-CIO President Mark MacKenzie.
Less than three months later, in a stunning victory for New Hampshire workers and their families, the state House killed the so-called right to work bill by 262–103. For MacKenzie, the lesson from the successful battle is basic to many union struggles: “Rely on the membership, and make sure you hold the people who make the decisions in the state legislature accountable.”
Mobilizing members
In January, while the NRTWC was flooding voters and lawmakers with vitriolic anti-union hate mail generated from its Virginia headquarters, New Hampshire unions launched their own homegrown campaign.
All of the state’s unions signed on for the fight, from the 10,000-member SEIU Local 1984 the NRTWC had portrayed as the poster child of an “evil” union, to the smallest of locals. Such “solidarity among the unions motivated members,” says MacKenzie.
“They knew it was a fight that went beyond the unions that might be most affected by ‘right to work.’ It was about all of us.”
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| | On to victory: New Hampshire AFL-CIO President Mark MacKenzie (far right) joins Painters and Allied Trades District Council 35 members in the fight to stop so-called right to work from passing in the state legislature. |
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Local union leaders began distributing the first of what became 50,000 worksite leaflets and fliers outlining the threat of “right to work” laws. Such laws ban union security clauses—which keeps unions strong by ensuring the costs of negotiating contracts are spread fairly among all workers who benefit from them. To counter NRTWC’s massive mail effort, the state federation distributed nearly 30,000 postcards at worksites and union meetings for members to sign and then sent them to state lawmakers.
The New Hampshire House resembles a part-time citizen’s legislature. Not only do the 400 members represent small districts, they have no offices at the state capitol. Grassroots lobbying took several unique turns. Many union members telephoned their representatives—some of whom were their neighbors—at home, while others dropped by and knocked on doors.
Because lawmakers do not have capitol offices, pulling off a lobby day at the capitol required a creative strategy. Some 150-plus union members waged a series of lobby days by camping out at each table in the House cafeteria. When lawmakers stopped for lunch, “there we were,” says MacKenzie.
“Our members did a great job talking to the legislators. They were able to tell them exactly what ‘right to work’ is and isn’t, and they impressed upon them that the whole thing was an out-of-state effort. There was no grassroots cry for it in New Hampshire,” MacKenzie says.
One on one with lawmakers
During the two committee hearings on “right to work,” so many union members came to testify or attend that the hearing was forced out of the committee room into larger chambers. More than 400 people testified—most opposed to the bill.
On the day of the vote, hundreds of union members packed the House gallery. Before the vote was cast, union activists presented another 20,000 postcards to lawmakers calling for the bill’s defeat.
Shortly after the legislation was defeated and the cheers faded away, one lawmaker summed up why legislators heard the one-on-one, rank-and-file lobbying message so loud and clear: “These are our friends and neighbors, the teachers of our children, the protectors of our property,” said Rep. Paul Spiess (R).
“People spoke, and the legislature listened,” says Stokes. @ 
