Bluegrass Institute president Jim Waters will debate the merits of right-to-work policy with Kentucky State AFL-CIO president Bill Londrigan this coming Thursday, Nov. 12, from 11 a.m. to Noon (Eastern) on WEKU-FM’s Eastern Standard with host John Hingsbergen.

Listen online here to the program, which can be heard at 88.9 FM across central and southeastern Kentucky.  The program will be re-broadcast on Sunday, Nov. 15, at 6 p.m.

Right-to-work simply means individual employees who work for businesses with collective-bargaining agreements are not required to join a labor union or pay union dues.

Gov.-elect Matt Bevin made right-to-work a signature policy issue during the just-completed campaign.

“Right to work legislation would help make Kentucky a more attractive place for new businesses,” the Bevin Blueprint states. “Not doing so, puts us at a disadvantage to bordering states such as Indiana, Tennessee, Virginia and other states in our region with whom we compete for jobs.”

Fiscal courts in 12 Kentucky counties expressed their frustration with the political gridlock in the General Assembly by passing their own right-to-work ordinances, beginning with Warren County on Dec. 19.Labor unions filed a lawsuit against Hardin County – one of the 12 right-to-work counties – in federal court in Louisville. The case was heard in August with a ruling expected by the end of the year.