Kansas Senate Votes to Punish Unions for Illegal Actions of Employers!

David in Atlanta ""crude reductionist version of marxism""
Posts: 1916 Joined: 21-04-06
Submitted by David in Atlanta on 4 June, 2008 - 15:56.
Quote:
The Kansas Senate adopted an amendment by Senator Karin Brownlee (R-Olathe) to the immigration reform bill that would put responsibility for controlling illegal immigration on unions and other employee organizations.

Under the amendment any union or employee organization that would “impose or collect union dues from any alien who is not lawfully present in the United States” would be subject to fines from $2,000 to $10,000. The amendment was adopted in the wee hours on a vote of 19 to 18.

It is important to note that the Senators repeatedly rejected attempts to impose punishments on employers who knowingly hire illegal aliens. In other words, in Kansas, while employers are free to do whatever they want when hiring, employee groups will be punished for fraternizing with other employees.

This is a new low for the Kansas Senate. A majority of them are happy to turn a blind eye to the hiring of illegal aliens and will use immigration reform to bust unions

http://www.ksworkbeat.org/Issues/2008-15/2008-15.html

OliverTwister "Tied directly to Bekken and the Philly camp"
Posts: 2215 Joined: 10-10-05 Location: San Francisco, USA
4 June, 2008 - 22:27

A pretty good argument as to why unions should not cooperate with the state apparati.

David in Atlanta ""crude reductionist version of marxism""
Posts: 1916 Joined: 21-04-06
5 June, 2008 - 00:41

I see your point and actually agree on a theoretical level but it's not all that simple avoiding dealing with the state.

pghwob "Not an apologist for SEIU"
Posts: 685 Joined: 09-12-06 Location: CITIZEN OF INDUSTRY
5 June, 2008 - 00:50

I did a little research on this the other day, when I heard about this. My understanding is that the state House still has to pass a similar bill and then, much like the federal system, a joint measure must be agreed upon. However, this is clearly not a good precedent, and could cause a lot of problems for organized labor.

David in Atlanta ""crude reductionist version of marxism""
Posts: 1916 Joined: 21-04-06
5 June, 2008 - 01:50

Thanks for the clarification, pghwob. The article wasn't clear on the process and I rather assumed it had already passed the state house and the next step was the governors desk

pghwob "Not an apologist for SEIU"
Posts: 685 Joined: 09-12-06 Location: CITIZEN OF INDUSTRY
7 June, 2008 - 02:41

I could be wrong. The Kansas legislature has a web site with copies of bills; for some reason my computer wouldn't open-up the .pdf files. But perhaps you could find out whether it passed the house as well.

pghwob "Not an apologist for SEIU"
Posts: 685 Joined: 09-12-06 Location: CITIZEN OF INDUSTRY
7 June, 2008 - 03:07

Here is a link to what I believe is the Senate bill:

http://www.kslegislature.org/bills/2008/458.pdf

The amendment is in Sec. 22. At least it requires that such dues be taken "knowingly*

I'm still hunting down the other versions. Any lawyers from Kansas on here?

I believe this is the House version:
http://www.kslegislature.org/supplemental/2008/SN2367.pdf

But I cannot open the file to search for "union"

David in Atlanta ""crude reductionist version of marxism""
Posts: 1916 Joined: 21-04-06
7 June, 2008 - 03:41

that's it and here's the section:

Quote:
[New Sec. 22. (a) It shall be unlawful in the state of Kansas for
any labor union or employee organization to knowingly impose or
collect union dues from any alien who is not lawfully present in the
United States.
[(b) The attorney general may initiate a civil action in district
court to enforce the provisions of this section. Any labor union or
employee organization violating subsection (a) shall be subject to
a civil fine in an amount not to exceed $2,000 for the first violation,
$5,000 for the second violation and $10,000 for the third violation
and for each subsequent violation.

I found the house bill the other day. it doesn't include the anti-union language
http://www.kslegislature.org/bills/2008/2367.pdf