Hollie Noveletsky: Union power grab threatens NH businesses and employees
from the NH Union Leader newspaper

The New Hampshire Union Leader newspaper published an Op-ed by Hollie Noveletsky, opposing Big Labor's radical "PRO Act" forced-unionism power grab:

"RUNNING A BUSINESS is no easy task, particularly during what has been an unprecedented time for the American economy. The pandemic cast wide uncertainty on the business landscape here in New Hampshire and across the country, and as we turn the corner, we face new challenges related to hiring and inflation.

Now, on top of everything, small-business owners and their employees have a new threat to face in the form of legislation that would overturn years of established labor law in order to give unions an unfair advantage in the organizing process, to the detriment of workers’ rights and businesses’ ability to grow and succeed.

The legislation being pushed by the vast majority of Senate Democrats, including Senator Maggie Hassan, is called the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act and it would cause massive disruptions in workplaces across the state. The PRO Act is a tremendous overreach by the government to dictate the relationship between myself as a private business owner and my employees.

As a family-owned business, I am dedicated to my employees. I know them and treat them as family. There is a personal bond that is established in a family-run business. If you force labor unions in between owners and employees, that relationship is forever distanced, damaged and there is no going back.

Employers like me treat our employees with respect and offer fair wages and good benefits. This represents a significant reason why union membership has steadily declined over the past 20 years. Currently, only 12.1 % of employees in the U.S. are represented by unions. And in New Hampshire, that number is even less, 10.3%. There are multiple reasons for low union participation. But pushing the PRO Act will only embolden unions to push union membership on employees.

I vividly remember the days when the unions would strong-arm participation through intimidation. My father moved Novel Iron Works from Massachusetts to New Hampshire in the mid-1970s due to unions continually harassing the company, forcing frequent plant closings. And when Novel did relocate, the unions attempted to gain access again through intimidation. The PRO Act would allow the federal government to enable these kinds of intimidation by forcing union access to employees’ personal information such as address and phone number — and the employee would not even have the option to keep their personal information private.

Beyond that, my employees would lose their right to vote for or against unionization using a secret ballot. The reason why union elections are held via secret ballots is to minimize the opportunity and risk of intimidation. Can you only image how much peer pressure and intimidation can take place if you have to raise your hand or voice publicly to oppose unionizing? It would have a lasting effect on workplace culture and set up for employee harassment complaints — caused by unions, not solved by them.

This reckless legislation would also change the rules on New Hampshire businesses regarding what it means to be a “joint employer,” essentially saddling small-business owners with massive new costs and liabilities. Although I do not hire independent contractors, we do subcontract work to small independent erectors to do work in the field at times. These represent mom and pop erectors or miscellaneous iron shops. They are independent contractors with their own companies. Under the PRO Act, these independent contracts may end up being reclassified, undermining the basic entrepreneurial spirit and economy that our country was born out of and New Hampshire’s economy is bolstered by."

Read more in the Union Leader:
Hollie Noveletsky: Union power grab threatens NH businesses and employees