The Wichita/Hutchinson Labor Federation is a proud member of the Working Kansas Alliance. Read the original article here.
The Assault on Labor Has Begun: HB 2515
Two days ago on January 24th HB 2515 – The Competitive Bid Protection Act – was introduced by Rep. Marvin Kleeb and with only a days notice it is up for a hearing in House Commerce and Economic Development today.
Why does this matter?
HB 2515 states that any governmental entity or construction manager acting on behalf of the governmental entity shall not require in its bid docs, specifications or project agreements. Any bidder, contractor, sub-contractor or material supplier to enter into any prehire agreement, project labor agreement (PLA) or collective bargaining agreement (CBA), with one or more labor organization on the same or other related projects.
What does this mean for working families?
This bill does a few major things that would affect Kansas’ working families.
- It creates bigger government by putting the State government in the middle of contracting. Local and State entities should be able to negotiate the best terms for everyone involved without the State interfering in the negotiations.
- This will only make it easier for contractors outside of Kansas to come in and take way jobs from working Kansans. Workers make up the citizens in our community and those workers should have the right to receive better wages and terms on the projects in their community.
- This bill only progresses the race to the bottom by allowing out of state workers to come in and take away Kansas jobs from our friends and neighbors.
This is just one of the first of many bills to come in the assault on labor this year. Brownback and his conservative yes men are doing everything they can to silence the voice of working families statewide and by rushing this bill and others like it they continue to ignore the voices of working families.
These aren’t Kansas values, these aren’t good policy decisions, they are explicitly a war on the middle class and Kansas workers. HB 2515 is only the beginning of the tactics we will see, we need to stand together and be nimble enough to fight this fight.
