A bill to restrict new unions is now ready for Governor Brian Kemp's leadership after the state House of Representatives passed it along party lines on Wednesday.
Senate Bill 362, sponsored by Republican Sen. Mike Hodges of Brunswick, would prevent new companies setting up shop in Georgia from accepting state incentives if they allow their workers to form a union without a secret ballot. The other commonly used route to unionization that the bill seeks to avoid is called card check. It is less formal and involves collecting signatures from workers, usually on cards.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, only 5.4% of Georgia workers were represented by a union in 2022, down from 5.8% the year before. That's less than all but six other states. The bill would not affect any of those states, only new businesses moving into the state.
Rep. Soo Hong. Ross Williams/Georgia Recorder
Kemp pushed for the measure at the start of this year's session, pledging to “never cave to activists who seek to attack job creators and undermine the countless opportunities they create in communities across Georgia.”
One of Kemp's caucus leaders, Republican Rep. Soo Hong of Lawrenceville, said in a speech in the House on Wednesday that the bill would not prevent workers from organizing.
“This bill is about the use of state funds for economic development. It's not a regulatory measure,” she said. “So we're determining what we do with our tax incentives. And we're telling the people of Georgia that if their tax dollars are being used to create jobs and their neighbors are taking those jobs, they have the right to choose whether or not they want to unionize. That's consistent with federal law.”
“When the state invests state resources to spur job creation, we ensure that the hardworking Georgians who hold those jobs have the opportunity to decide for themselves whether they want to be represented by a union,” she added.
Unions and their supporters say secret ballots are a good idea, but ballot auditing is a fairer way to conduct the election. They say secret ballots allow owners to put pressure on workers, for example by spending a lot of money on outside groups to hold mandatory meetings where they can talk about the disadvantages of unionization.
Rep. Long Tran Ross Williams/Georgia Recorder
Dunwoody Democratic Rep. Long Tran said the bill would discourage unions like the one that changed his family's life after his parents emigrated from Vietnam.
My father eventually got a job on the assembly line at GM. He became a union worker,” he said. “That enabled him to go to college, become a mechanical engineer and move up the ranks at General Motors, where he stayed for over 30 years. The middle-class lifestyle that my family had, which made my sister a doctor, my brother a lawyer and my other brother an accountant, and which is here today, is without question due to the opportunities provided by the American dream through the strength of the middle class.”
“We cannot ignore what created the middle class here in America, which is unions,” he added. “And I can't believe that today we have to debate whether or not the government should pick the corporate winners. I, as a small business owner, should have the final say on how I treat employees and labor in my business.”
