AFL-CIO National Treasurer Fred Redmond believes the Peach State is politically ripe for more union growth and more protections for workers.
“Well, here in the state of Georgia, we have what we think is one of the best slates of candidates, especially in the South, top to bottom,” Redmond told USA Today after a Labor Day speech in Atlanta. “We feel a lot of energy in Georgia. We’re thinking with what’s happening in Georgia, especially in the retail sector…that’s, you know, the place for me.”
The percentage of workers in Georgia belonging to a trade union increased slightly from 4.6% to 4.8% between 2020 and 2021. That’s well below the national rate of 10.3%. Redmond visited Georgia for Labor Day because he believes there are ways to bridge the gap.
“Brothers and sisters, I am so happy to be here with you this afternoon because we in the labor movement know that everything we fight for, everything we work for, comes through Georgia,” he said in a speech at the UAW -Hall.
Charlie Fleming, the state president of the AFL-CIO, agreed.
“This is one of the fastest growing states in the country and I think that’s a good thing and a bad thing,” Fleming told the USA Today Network. “The bad thing is that our percentage hasn’t really gone up. … The good thing is that more and more people are moving into this country who actually had unions, know unions.”
New sectors for organizing unions
Electric vehicle manufacturing is coming to Georgia — Hyundai outside of Savannah, Rivian outside of Atlanta, and SK Battery in Commerce. Redmond and Fleming hope the industry will also grow in its unionized workforce, although there are no specific organizing efforts yet.
“We’re watching it very closely, you know, to see how things materialize, so we’re going to keep an eye on it,” Redmond said. “We don’t have any specific campaigns that we’ve identified or can talk about at this point, but it’s a growing industry.”
Fleming believes the need for skilled workers will attract more union membership and said IBEW, the electrical workers’ union, expects to gain 300,000 members nationwide by the end of the decade.
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“This is a new industry and any new industry is going to want the most qualified, most educated and educated people to build these facilities. Also, you want a well-trained workforce,” Fleming said. “And that’s what the labor movement does. We have the best training opportunities when it comes to our jobs.”
Sectors of the auto industry have been unionized for decades, but Redmond is also quick to point to pressures from service workers to unionize, including a massive campaign among Starbucks workers.
“I think one of the reasons for that is because this is an industry that’s embraced by a lot of young people,” Redmond said. “(It’s) just something we haven’t seen in a long time, this kind of energy in the labor movement. And the amazing thing about the service industry, it’s not just about wages, you know.”
Instead, Redmond said, workers are demanding better-paid time off, a say in shift scheduling, childcare, and health and safety.
Labor, political and campaign season
Candidates running with the support of workers used the Atlanta event to make their pitches.
“We’re going to create jobs here in Georgia by investing in the people of Georgia through apprenticeships in the state of Georgia,” Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams told the crowd.
Senator Raphael Warnock spoke to a group of union leaders at both the Atlanta Labor Day event and in Augusta last week.
“I always consider it an honor to be among workers with heart and soul,” Warnock said during the campaign stop in Augusta. “Over time, there has been an unfortunate devaluation of the people who make things in our country.”
Most importantly, Warnock answered questions from union leaders about federal action on labor priorities.
Melanie Silverstein, a policy representative for the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades, asked whether steps should be taken to ensure employees were not misidentified as contractors and thus excluded from benefits. Glen Kelly Jr., President of the International Union of Bricklayers Local 8 Southeast, asked about Warnock’s support for nuclear power; Many of his craftsmen found work in the Vogtle factory. Benyoel Morgan, President of the Transportation Workers Union of America, asked how to prepare for a future of electric buses and autonomous vehicles.
“I don’t think there will be a shortage of jobs,” Warnock replied, but said education systems have been slow to adjust.
He then told the USA Today network that he would like to see union organizing efforts in Georgia’s expanding electric vehicle and solar manufacturing sectors.
“I think the work we did at this Congress is helpful for workers, like the bipartisan infrastructure bill,” he said. “And there is language in these bills that protects these workers.”
A right of organization
The main objective of Labor and Labor-backed elected officials remains passage of the Protecting the Right to Organize or PRO Act.
Among other things, it would repeal right-to-work laws that allow workers in unionized companies to opt out of union membership and dues, even if they are represented by a union contract. It would also limit a company’s ability to counter union campaigns, such as ordering anti-union meetings, and impose fines on companies violating labor laws.
Warnock is a vocal supporter of the bill, which didn’t even make it to a Senate vote last year. Georgia Rep. Rick Allen, R-Augusta, has introduced legislation aimed directly at countering the PRO Act. Georgia Reps. Austin Scott, Barry Loudermilk and Buddy Carter are co-sponsors.
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“We have not abandoned the PRO Act. I want to make that clear,” Redmond said. “…Our main goal is to get the PRO Act passed, but like I said, if we could get legislation that would allow workers to organize without reprisals or without fear of losing their jobs, then that is our goal.”
Fleming said that Georgia passed legislation at the last session that clarifies some aspects of the issue of independent contractors and workers, but that this is just a start.
“That’s one of the biggest things I think, the misclassification of workers, especially in the gig economy,” he said. “These people are told where to be, when to be there, what uniform to wear, and yet they’re independent. It doesn’t make sense, it doesn’t make sense.”
