Rapid Response Info Alert: Senate Bill 362 is Wrong for Georgia

Our tax dollars should not be used to subsidize union busting!

Click here for a printable PDF of this Info Alert.

A majority of Americans would join a union right now if they could, and working people across all sectors of the economy are organizing like never before. As a matter of fact, recent polling data shows that seventy-one percent of Americans support unions, the highest level in nearly 60 years, with eighty-eight percent of young people showing support for unions. People are fed up with an economy forcing them to swim upstream, working two jobs or more, just to make a decent living. Unions are the best tool we have as a working class to change the status quo. That’s why they are coming after us by drafting Georgia Senate Bill 362.

Senate Bill 362:

• Rewards Union Busting – SB 362 prohibits any businesses that receive state subsidies from voluntarily recognizing a union if workers have demonstrated majority support in their workplace. This could force workers into an unnecessary election to once again prove support leaving the employer more opportunity to bust the union. It quite literally awards businesses for being anti-union.
• Violates Federal Labor Law – Voluntary recognition of a union is protected by the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). These protections and prohibitions cannot be circumvented by state legislation and would subject the state (and its taxpayers) to years of costly litigation, all so the policy can be ultimately struck down by the courts.
• Discourages Economic Growth – SB 362 ties the hands of businesses that want to locate in Georgia in the future, driving some to other states that will not condition economic development support on how a business chooses to conduct their labor relations. The bill would impact all businesses receiving state funding, including those in USW represented sectors.

When workers are asking for basic rights and are supported by the employer, the state government stepping in to ban that recognition simultaneously harms workers AND takes away individual freedoms for business owners. Stay tuned to Rapid Response in the coming days to find out how you can help us push back on SB 362.

For additional information, please contact District 9 Rapid Response Coordinator, Shane Mitchell at smitchell@usw.org or 256-239-9981.