In possible test of federal labor law, Georgia could make it harder for some workers to join unions

ATLANTA– As Georgia hands out billions in economic incentives to electric vehicle makers and other companies, the state’s governing Republicans are taking action to make it harder for workers at those companies to unionize, a violation of current federal law could be.

The Senate voted 31-23 on Thursday to approve a bill, backed by Gov. Brian Kemp, that would ban companies that accept state incentives from recognizing unions without a formal secret ballot election. That would prevent unions from voluntarily seeking recognition from a company after signing up a majority of workers, in what is commonly known as a card check. Senate Bill 362 heads to the House for more debate.

Union leaders and Democrats argue the bill violates the 1935 National Labor Relations Act, which governs union organizing, by blocking a section of federal law that allows companies to voluntarily recognize unions that express support for a majority of workers.

“Ultimately, voluntary recognition is a protected right,” said Hannah Perkins, political director of Georgia’s trade union federation AFL-CIO, which says it has 500,000 members in the state. Only 4.4% of Georgia workers belong to a union, the eighth-lowest rate among states.

The National Labor Relations Board, the federal agency that oversees union affairs, did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment Thursday.

Georgia’s bill is modeled after one passed in Tennessee last year, but similar legislation could be offered in many other states. The conservative U.S. Legislative Exchange Council is promoting the idea. Governors in other Southern states traditionally hostile to organized labor have spoken out against unions in recent weeks, after the United Auto Workers promised a new push to organize non-union auto plants after several failed attempts.

Alabama’s Republican Governor Kay Ivey said her state’s economic success is “under attack.” Henry McMaster, the Republican governor of South Carolina, last month told lawmakers in the state with the fewest unions in the country that organized labor is such a threat that he would fight unions “to the gates of hell.” .

Georgia Governor Brian Kemp expressed support for the bill in a January speech to the Georgia Chamber of Commerce, echoing the chamber’s own agenda. He said the move would protect workers’ “right to opportunity” from President Joe Biden’s pro-union agenda and outside forces “who want nothing more than to see the free market brought to an abrupt halt.”

Kemp and fellow Republicans argue they are protecting workers from being bullied into joining a union by giving them the protection of a secret ballot.

“Why is it such bad policy to say, if you live in the state of Georgia, you have the right to be protected, you have the right to choose whether or not you want to join a union, and that you won’t be bullied? , and you are not being blackmailed?” asked Sen. Bo Hatchett, a Cornelia Republican who appointed Kemp as one of his leaders in the Senate.

Democrats, however, say the bill is actually aimed at making it harder for unions to organize and for companies to accept them. Most anti-union employers require employees who vote on the organization to attend mandatory anti-union meetings before voting, which can lead to employees voting against unions.

“All too often, employers engage in these scorched earth campaigns against employees,” said Sen. Nikki Merritt, a Democrat from Lawrenceville who said a union contract protected her in a former job. Like most Senate Democrats Thursday, Merritt wore a red bandana. as a symbol of trade union solidarity.

Stands. Sen. Mike Hodges, a Brunswick Republican who supports the bill, denied that it would conflict with federal law.

“It does not prohibit a company’s employees from joining a union, nor does it require an employer to oppose unionization in any action,” said Hodges, another Kemp leader.

Hodges said he has a number of family members who have been union members and that he understands “the addition to a lifestyle that union wages provide.”

“If I thought this bill would be harmful to unions or union members in any way, I would not pass it,” Hodges said.

But Democrats said they believe the bill is an attempt to attack federal labor law.

“They think they’ve found a loophole, so they want this to be a test case,” said Sen. Jason Esteves, an Atlanta Democrat. “They want this to go to trial because they hope the Supreme Court will let them. cut away.”