Right-to-work repeal sought

BOISE – A labor union will ask Idaho voters to repeal the state’s right-to-work law.

AFL-CIO President Dave Whaley filed a proposed ballot initiative Friday with the secretary of state’s office.

The union still needs to get the signatures of 40,772 registered voters, something it tried but failed to do for this November’s ballot. The referendum is at least two years from appearing on Idaho ballots.

Advocates will have 18 months to gather the needed signatures after state officials sign off on the language of the referendum.

Right-to-work laws ban established unions from requiring that employees join or pay dues as a condition of employment. Idaho’s Republican-controlled Legislature approved it in 1985 over the veto of then-Democratic Gov. John Evans, and voters ratified it the following year by a margin of 31,000 votes.

Supporters maintain it has energized the Idaho economy by eliminating noncompetitive wage barriers, but labor leaders have argued that the law has only served to depressed wages for working-class families.