Union workers protest anti-union bills in House committee hearing
There's a full house in the House State Affairs Committee this morning, where two Senate-passed anti-union bills, SB 1006 and 1007, are up for a hearing. The committee watched a video of loud, angry carpenters union pickets at the state capitol from two years ago, but many of those testifying said they disavow such tactics and the bills won't fix them, they'll hurt union workers in the state. "I think you're being sold a bill of goods," J.D. Day, a union pipefitter from Boise, told the committee. "It's not good for Idaho." He said the carpenters union has withdrawn from the AFL-CIO and "we abhor what they're doing." Said Day, "I would lot rather work as a cooperative partner with somebody than trying to coerce 'em into something - what kind of a relationship is that?" Day said his union has 500 workers in Boise. "Do we pass a law like this to get rid of one noisy group?" he asked. "This is a law that's going to hurt a lot of union families. It's going to hurt the wages that we have in the state."