AB 470

The current right-to-work law prohibits a person from requiring, as a condition of obtaining or continuing employment, an individual to refrain or resign from membership in a labor organization, to become or remain a member of a labor organization, to pay dues or other charges to a labor organization, or to pay any other person an amount that is in place of dues or charges required of members of a labor organization. This bill repeals these prohibitions and the associated misdemeanor offense for violating the right-to-work law.

The bill explicitly provides that, when an all-union agreement is in effect, it is not an unfair labor practice to encourage or discourage membership in a labor organization or to deduct labor organization dues or assessments from an employee’s earnings. The bill sets conditions under which an employer may enter into an all-union agreement. The bill also sets conditions for the continuation or termination of all-union agreements, including that, if the Wisconsin Employment Relations Commission determines there is reasonable ground to believe employees in an all-union agreement have changed their attitude about the agreement, WERC is required to conduct a referendum to determine whether the employees wish to continue the agreement. WERC is required to terminate an all-union agreement if it finds the union unreasonably refused to admit an employee into the union.