BOISE - Idaho's labor unions are already the 97-pound weakling, but the Republican majority in the state Legislature is trying to kick more sand in their face.

Less than 10 percent of Idaho's working population belongs to a labor organization even as lawmakers work to chip away at union leverage during the 2011 session.

The legislation started in late January, with a bill that would keep state and local governments from requiring contractors bidding on public works projects from paying workers predetermined wages and benefits. The Republican-backed measure also seeks to prohibit a requirement that contractors forge agreements with workers on issues such as paying union-scale wages as a condition of winning a bid on a government construction job.

Industry groups backing the bill complain these anticompetitive agreements are driving up the cost of projects and resulting in union workers from outside Idaho winning jobs within the state. Dave Whaley, president of AFL-CIO Idaho, rejects the notion that unions are giving a leg up to out-of-state workers.

"That's not true," Whaley said. "It's just an out-and-out attack on unions."

Idaho marked its 25th year as a right-to-work state in 2010, a status that means employees can't be required to join unions or pay dues as a condition of employment.

Another bill targeting unions seeks to forbid them from using dues to subsidize members' wages to help union shop contractors win projects. These subsidies, known as job targeting programs, can lower a union contractor's overall costs and allow them to submit more competitive bids.

Howard Rude, the former owner of a plumbing and heating systems business in North Idaho, urged lawmakers to pass the legislation.

Rude claims his business, Parrot Mechanical, was hurt by labor organizations in Washington state after he declined an invitation to turn his business into a union shop operation. The labor groups used "at time illegal tactics and practices" such as project targeting, Rude said in a letter.

The business was shuttered and 240 workers let go in 2002, he said.

"Project targeting gives the out-of-state union shops an unfair advantage," Rude said.

Hearings in the Senate were the scene of anger over protests the carpenters union has staged in Idaho's capital city. The union has pitted the demonstrations against organizations it has targeted in a battle the union says is to force businesses to pay area standard wages and treat workers fairly.

The anti-union folks aren't the only ones upset about the protests.

"We've condemned their actions," Whaley said. "We don't agree with their tactics."

Other bills introduced in early February would weaken the influence the Idaho Education Association, which represents 13,000 public school teachers and school employees.

The association already felt under threat this year with a proposal Republicans unveiled in January to overhaul the public education system. It includes a pay-for-performance plan and would require teachers to forego coveted job security.

Legislation introduced by Republican Reps. Bob Nonini and Reed DeMordaunt last week would ban taxpayer money from going toward a labor organization for dues or to train workers, while also prohibiting school districts from including union activities in job descriptions or paying teachers for any time they spent on those activities.

"We need to make sure our dollars are spent in the most effective way possible, particularly with the shortage of dollars we are facing today," DeMordaunt said. "I really have no problem with the union . but at the same time the taxpayers of Idaho expect those dollars to be going into the classroom and not out recruiting."

Union officials said they were not aware of anyone getting taxpayer dollars to cover their dues or work as a union representative.

Democrats called the bills a "shotgun" approach with far-reaching ramifications in Idaho, where participation in labor organizations is among the lowest in the nation but had grown slightly in the past few years. Just 5 percent of the state's working population belonged to a union in 2006, far below the national average of 12.5 percent.

The union rate grew to 7.1 percent last year, while the national rate fell to 11.9 percent, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

"The fact is, even though this is a right-to-work state, you can still organize," Whaley said. "We're just not going to win."