February 19, 2015

UFCW Members Celebrate Defeated Kentucky Right to Work Legislation

Members of UFCW Local 227 crowd the committee meeting room as they discuss “right to work”.

Last week, in front of a standing room only crowd filled with UFCW members in gold, a Kentucky House committee defeated right to work legislation. A great deal of work from UFCW members in Kentucky went into this victory.

For weeks, UFCW members have traveled to Frankfort to speak with their legislators and educate them about the pain a right to work law would bring to working families in Kentucky. Just before the right to work measure failed, Caitlin Lally from UFCW Local 227 gave an impactful testimony to the committee.

“There are hundreds of thousands of workers all across Kentucky looking to this committee to do the right thing,” said Lally. “Let’s pursue an agenda to make Kentucky stronger. Let’s continue to build a state where businesses grow, workers succeed, and families thrive. Let’s resist the influence of outsiders and come together in the proudest traditions of our state. Let’s defeat right to work.”

With right to work laws currently being proposed in numerous state legislatures, this victory in Kentucky should not go unnoticed. Workers need more money in their pockets, but people in right to work states earn $5,000 less per year. Workers want to send their children to successful schools, but right to work states spend 31.3 percent less per pupil on education. Workers deserve to feel safe at work, but right to work states have a workplace death rate that is over 54 percent higher.

This win in Kentucky shows that workers who stick together, whether it’s inside their workplace or the State Capitol, can shape a better future for themselves and their families.