A local lawmaker said Wednesday he wants to revamp the collective bargaining process for public-sector unions in Rhode Island.
State Rep. Joe Trillo, R-Warwick, said his intention is not to repeat the Wisconsin governor's attempt to break unions.
Trillo's bill before the House Labor Committee would establish a right-to-work state in Rhode Island and put teachers' contracts before town councils for ratification.
Trillo said unions have a right to exist.
"I believe the people should still have the right to have the protection of a union. What I'm trying to do is keep the contracts down to one year so they're not three-year contracts (and) to have the contracts confined to wages only, no benefits or anything like that," Trillo said.
Union leaders said the measure is misguided.
"The working conditions that people have to work through are important. And because of collective bargaining, many of those working conditions have been approved. We don't want to go back to the dark days where people were fired without cause, people had to work 20 hours a day. I think really Rep. Trillo's over-reaching," Pat Crowley of the National Education Association Rhode Island.
Trillo said he doesn't expect the bill to pass and that he just wants to get the conversation started.
The House Labor Committee will hear from a lot of union people ready to testify against the bill. Trillo's supporters include the Rhode Island Statewide Coalition.
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