Governor Patrick signs historic Majority Authorization Bill at Massachusetts AFL-CIO Convention

[Omaha Steve]

http://unionreview.com/governor-patrick-signs-historic-majority-authorization-bill-massachusetts-afl-cio-convention

MARLBOROUGH, MA, ISSUED SEPTEMBER 27, 2007 –

On Thursday, September 27, 2007 Governor Deval Patrick signed the Majority Authorization bill, giving public employees the ability to form a collective bargaining unit by achieving majority support in writing. The Massachusetts House of Representatives passed the bill on Tuesday, September 18th, and the Massachusetts State Senate voted on Thursday, September 20th to enact the bill into law.


Governor Patrick signs Majority Authorization


This historic moment arrives after a long fight. The Majority Authorization bill was first passed in Massachusetts by both the House and the Senate in 2005, but then-Governor Mitt Romney held off until the last minute to veto the bill. Introduced again in 2007, the bill has survived despite tremendous opposition from the business community and state Republican party. Before the public bill signing, Governor Patrick delivered a rousing speech about the need to protect the right of workers to organize, and then, with lead sponsors Chairman Robert DeLeo and Senator Robert O’Leary at his side, signed the historic labor bill into law. The video of this morning’s important signing will be available on Youtube.com as soon as possible.

In the Governor’s press release this morning, he had this to say, “This bill is about leveling the playing field between labor and management. It affirms the Commonwealth’s policy of supporting workers who should be able to bargain collectively for fair wages, decent health care and on the job protections.”

FULL story at link.

[papau]

1. this should be the rule nationwide - I'm glad I voted for Deval :-)

:-)

[fasttense]

2. Wow, I'm moving to Massachusetts. Well, if I can sell my house. n/t