A state Senate committee voted Wednesday not to restore collective bargaining rights protection in a work-share bill that would allow employers to cut costs by reducing employees’ work hours.
The decision, which fell along party lines and passed by one vote within the Senate Committee on Workforce Development, Forestry, Mining, and Revenue, drew opposition from state Democrats who claim the current bill disregards unionized labor by failing to require employers to negotiate with the private-sector unions that may represent their employees.
However, state Rep. Ed Brooks, R-Reedsburg, who co-sponsored the Republican bill omitting collective bargaining, defended the legislation as a way to help employers avoid layoffs if they are struggling with tight budgets.
“With more than 200,000 Wisconsin residents unemployed, this issue is too important to politicize,” Brooks said in a statement. “This bill is about jobs and nothing else.”
The bill already passed the state Assembly and now awaits a vote in the state Senate.
