Mo Baxley: Rep. Hough turns his back on Laconia's working class

To The Daily Sun,

Why does Rep. Gregg Hough want to punish his working constituents? Why is he so anxious to unfairly rant and criticize our unionized teachers, firefighters, police officers, DPW workers and USPS workers? Does he not understand how important they are to our community, or has he been seduced by out-of-state political groups? His irresponsible and ignorant comments during the executive session for SB 61 – Right to Work for Less – was the epitome of a self-important legislator who’s put out-of-state interests ahead of the people he’s supposed to represent – citizens of Laconia.

It may interest Rep. Hough to know that the men and women who deliver our medications and groceries, educate our children, protect our streets, fill our potholes and are the first responders to emergencies are unionized. And they do a darn good job at it!

Rep. Hough's overly partisan fog seems to obscure the fact that no one is forced to join a union. No one “has a gun put to their head” and forced to pay dues. It's illegal. His use of self-aggrandizing language is a feeble attempt for attention, but also, in a time of mass shootings, downright dangerous. Did Rep. Hough miss the almost 2,000 people (Republicans, Democrats, NH business owners, faith leaders etc.) who signed in to oppose this bill? Did he miss or just ignore over 50 people who testified for over 6 hours that their union membership has allowed them to buy a house, work in a safer environment, put children through college, support their church and nonprofits and prepare for a retirement with security and dignity? Rep. Hough called this a “moral and legal” question. He is correct. Treating working men and women like a commodity, to be exploited like a raw material, is both illegal and immoral. Rep. Hough should remember that Right to Work for Less is rooted in one of the most egregious, illegal and immoral periods of American history – Jim Crow.

During the most challenging periods of our lives, Rep. Hough should reject blaming working men and women. At a time when a pandemic has stolen lives and livelihoods, he should value NH’s working men and women and reject SB 61.

Mo Baxley

Laconia