June 19, 2009 Volume 110 Number 12

Bill bans mandatory anti-union meetings

The Worker Freedom Act, which the Oregon AFL-CIO has called its top-priority legislation this year, passed the Oregon Senate June 8 by a 16-14 vote. The bill — SB 519 — is considered likely to pass the Oregon House. As of press time, it was in the House Rules Committee, which held a hearing on it June 11. Gov. Ted Kulongoski is expected to sign it if and when it reaches his desk.

The bill takes aim at a major tactic employers use to squelch unionizing efforts. Employers hold mandatory workplace meetings at which company owners, managers, and outside consultants subject workers to anti-union arguments. Union organizers are excluded from giving an opposing view at the meetings, and pro-union workers can be ordered to remain silent.

“In 95 percent of the private-sector campaigns we’re involved with, employers hold these meetings,” Ken Allen, executive director of Oregon AFSCME, told members of the House Rules Committee.

Under SB 519, employers would still be allowed to hold these anti-union meetings, but it would become illegal to discipline — or threaten to discipline — workers who refuse to attend. The bill also applies to meetings held to proselytize about religion or politics if those are not work-related. Employees who are fired or disciplined for refusing to attend such meetings can file suit and get reinstatement, back pay, triple damages, and attorney fees.

“Workers should not have to give up their opinions or be lectured about their employer’s beliefs to get a paycheck,” said Oregon AFL-CIO President Tom Chamberlain.

Oregon AFL-CIO spokesperson Elana Guiney said SB 519 would be the first such state law in the nation, though a New Jersey law passed in 2006 offers similar protections from employer religious or political proselytization.

A similar bill in Washington State was blocked by Democratic leaders earlier this year because Boeing and business lobbying groups aggressively opposed it. Gov. Chris Gregoire, House Speaker Frank Chopp, and Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown all refused to allow a vote.

In Oregon, all Republicans voted against SB 519, as did two Democrats: Betsy Johnson (D-Scappoose) and Ginny Burdick (D-Portland). Burdick also spoke against the bill on the Senate floor.

Republicans tried a number of parliamentary maneuvers to delay or block the bill, but didn’t have the votes.

Comments from Republicans speaking against the bill suggested that business groups are likely to challenge the law in court. Opponents have argued that SB 519 would violate the National Labor Relations Act, because that federal law, which governs most private-sector union organizing, contains a pre-emption clause that prevents states from making laws about unionizing. But Guiney said supporters of the bill expect it to survive a legal challenge: Lawyers for the Legislature’s in-house counsel said it does not run afoul of the federal law because it doesn’t ban the meetings, as was proposed by a similar bill the Oregon AFL-CIO fought for in the 2007 legislative session.

“It’s a significant bill,” said State Sen. Diane Rosenbaum, SB 519’s sponsor. “It will send a message to employers that if they want to hold these meetings, they can do so, but they need to be voluntary.”


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