Enterprise teams sue over Conn. legislation banning obligatory anti-union conferences

Connecticut is second state to ban “captive viewers” meetingsNew lawsuit says ban violates employers’ free speech rightsComes as U.S. labor company being urged to outlaw the conferences

(Reuters) – The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and different enterprise teams filed a lawsuit on Tuesday claiming a Connecticut legislation barring employers from holding obligatory conferences about unionizing is unconstitutional and needs to be struck down.

The teams in a grievance filed in Connecticut federal courtroom stated the legislation adopted earlier this yr violates companies’ free speech rights by barring them from disseminating truthful data and expressing opinions about vital issues.

The state legislation bars employers from disciplining employees who refuse to attend office conferences “regarding non secular or political issues,” together with the choice to hitch a union.

So-called “captive viewers conferences,” wherein employers focus on the results of unionizing, are routine in union campaigns and are authorized below the federal Nationwide Labor Relations Act (NLRA). However many unions and employee advocates say employers use the conferences to debate the potential detrimental impacts of becoming a member of a union, giving them an unfair benefit in discouraging unionizing.

Tuesday’s lawsuit claims that by curbing employers’ skill to offer details about unionizing, Connecticut’s legislation violates their rights to freedom of speech and meeting below the U.S. Structure. The teams additionally declare the legislation is preempted by the NLRA.

The Chamber, the biggest U.S. enterprise foyer, was joined by the Nationwide Federation of Unbiased Enterprise, Nationwide Retail Federation, Related Builders and Contractors and several other Connecticut-based enterprise teams.

The Connecticut Division of Labor and Lawyer Basic’s Workplace, that are named as defendants, didn’t instantly reply to requests for remark.

The one different state to ban captive viewers conferences is Oregon, which did so in 2009. The Nationwide Labor Relations Board, which enforces the NLRA, challenged Oregon’s legislation in 2020 however a federal choose dominated that the company lacked standing to sue.

Within the 2008 case Chamber of Commerce v. Brown, the U.S. Supreme Court docket stated a California legislation barring employers from utilizing state funding “to help, promote, or deter union organizing” was preempted by the NLRA.

Glenn Spencer, the Chamber’s senior vp for employment coverage, stated in an announcement that just like the legislation at challenge in that case, Connecticut’s ban violates longstanding precedent concerning employers’ free speech rights.

“We’ll proceed to defend an employer’s proper to share opinions with staff in order that staff could make knowledgeable choices,” Spencer stated.

The lawsuit comes as the present basic counsel of the NLRB, Jennifer Abruzzo, is urging the five-member board to overturn 80-year-old precedent permitting captive viewers conferences. Abruzzo, an appointee of Democratic President Joe Biden, stated in an April memo that the conferences discourage staff from exercising their proper to chorus from listening to anti-union messages.

Abruzzo’s workplace in Might issued a grievance claiming Amazon.com Inc violated the NLRA by holding captive viewers conferences at a New York Metropolis warehouse that later grew to become the corporate’s first to unionize. Amazon has denied wrongdoing.

The case is Chamber of Commerce of the USA v. Bartolomeo, U.S. District Court docket for the District of Connecticut, No. 3:22-cv-01373.

For the teams: Bryan Killian of Morgan Lewis & Bockius; Maurice Baskin of Littler Mendelson

For Connecticut: Not out there

Learn extra:

Why the labor board needs to free ‘captive’ employees from bosses’ messaging

NLRB takes second shot at overturning Oregon’s ‘captive viewers’ assembly legislation

Amazon’s captive employees conferences on unions unlawful, labor board official finds

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Daniel Wiessner

Thomson Reuters

Dan Wiessner (@danwiessner) stories on labor and employment and immigration legislation, together with litigation and coverage making. He may be reached at [email protected].