Changes

==Campaigning against right-to-work==

==Campaigning against right-to-work==

The Louisiana legislature]passed a [[right-to-work law]] in the 1952 session at the urging of then Governor [[Robert F. Kennon]]. Gardner was a freshman member of the Louisiana House at the time and voted for right-to-work. In 1956, however, when Gardner was mayor, the legislature repealed the law at the urging of Governor Earl Long. Organized labor took the leading role in the repeal, a reflection of Bussie's growing influence in state politics. Indeed, Louisiana was clearly the most unionized state in the [[American South]].<ref>James C. Gardner, ''Jim Gardner and Shreveport'', Vol. I, pp. 353–354; https://books.google.com/books?id=5QVz3n8724IC&pg=PA394&lpg=PA394&dq=victor+bussie&source=web&ots=fzABhoouiJ&sig=bRECFObnzPZ0zJZJEIDdDmdDJe0&hl=en#PPA394,M1</ref> Bussie found that rural state legislators wanted farmers excluded from the repeal of right-to-work. Therefore, he endorsed one bill to repeal right-to-work and another to restore right-to-work for farmers. "We became the first and only state labor organization in the nation ever to sponsor a right-to-work law," Bussie said.<ref name=stimes/> The maneuvering caught the eye of former [[First Lady]] [[Eleanor Roosevelt]], who penned an editorial saying that Bussie should be expelled from the union for sponsoring the restoration of right-to-work for farmers.<ref name=stimes/>​

The Louisiana legislature passed a [[Right-to-work laws|right-to-work law]] in the 1952 session at the urging of then Governor [[Robert F. Kennon]]. Gardner was a freshman member of the Louisiana House at the time and voted for right-to-work. In 1956, however, when Gardner was mayor, the legislature repealed the law at the urging of Governor Earl Long. Organized labor took the leading role in the repeal, a reflection of Bussie's growing influence in state politics. Indeed, Louisiana was clearly the most unionized state in the [[American South]].<ref>James C. Gardner, ''Jim Gardner and Shreveport'', Vol. I, pp. 353–354; https://books.google.com/books?id=5QVz3n8724IC&pg=PA394&lpg=PA394&dq=victor+bussie&source=web&ots=fzABhoouiJ&sig=bRECFObnzPZ0zJZJEIDdDmdDJe0&hl=en#PPA394,M1</ref> Bussie found that rural state legislators wanted farmers excluded from the repeal of right-to-work. Therefore, he endorsed one bill to repeal right-to-work and another to restore right-to-work for farmers. "We became the first and only state labor organization in the nation ever to sponsor a right-to-work law," Bussie said.<ref name=stimes/> The maneuvering caught the eye of former [[First Lady]] [[Eleanor Roosevelt]], who penned an editorial saying that Bussie should be expelled from the union for sponsoring the restoration of right-to-work for farmers.<ref name=stimes/>​

In the 1976 legislative session, right-to-work was again passed by a nearly all Democratic body, a reflection of the growing presence of LABI, which sought to reverse what it claimed had been "[[socialism]]" in the heyday of Bussie's influence.<ref>[http://centrallapolitics.blogspot.com/2007/09/labi-says-that-cheap-labor-and-low-rent.html Central La. Politics: LABI Says That Cheap Labor And Low Rent Shacks Are Louisiana'S Economic Development Selling Points?<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> Bussie convinced state Senator Gaston Gerald of East Baton Rouge Parish, the chairman of the Senate Labor and Industrial Relations Committee, to work against right-to-work. Gerald hence proposed a state constitutional amendment on the issue, which would have raised the legislative bar for passage and required voter approval.<ref>"Bussie maneuvering work bill's death," ''Minden Press-Herald,'' June 14, 1976, p. 1.</ref>​

In the 1976 legislative session, right-to-work was again passed by a nearly all Democratic body, a reflection of the growing presence of LABI, which sought to reverse what it claimed had been "[[socialism]]" in the heyday of Bussie's influence.<ref>[http://centrallapolitics.blogspot.com/2007/09/labi-says-that-cheap-labor-and-low-rent.html Central La. Politics: LABI Says That Cheap Labor And Low Rent Shacks Are Louisiana'S Economic Development Selling Points?<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> Bussie convinced state Senator Gaston Gerald of East Baton Rouge Parish, the chairman of the Senate Labor and Industrial Relations Committee, to work against right-to-work. Gerald hence proposed a state constitutional amendment on the issue, which would have raised the legislative bar for passage and required voter approval.<ref>"Bussie maneuvering work bill's death," ''Minden Press-Herald,'' June 14, 1976, p. 1.</ref>​