Alaska GOP Lawmaker Introduces Anti-Union Bill

A Republican state representative in Alaska has introduced a bill that would strip many public employees of their right to collectively bargain for changes to their hours, benefits, or working conditions. If that sounds familiar, it’s because the bill is consciously designed to mimic the controversial one passed recently in Wisconsin, sponsor Carl Gatto told the media.

Still, the bill is seen as unlikely to pass, CNN reports, because Alaska’s 2011 legislative session is already two-thirds over, and lawmakers are more focused on another controversial bill—one that would roll back the state’s tax on the profits of oil and gas companies. Democrats say they oppose the bill, with one wondering if they’d have to flee the state like Wisconsin's senators. “We’ll have to go to Canada,” she quipped. (More Alaska stories.)