Kemp signs bill requiring secret union votes at companies receiving incentives
(The Center Square) — Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp quietly signed a bill that requires companies receiving state incentives to allow employees to vote on union representation using secret ballots.
Senate Bill 362 says companies that receive taxpayer-backed economic development incentives cannot voluntarily “grant recognition rights” solely with “signed labor organization authorization cards” and must instead use a secret ballot. It also requires companies receiving taxpayer-funded incentives to agree they won’t share employees’ personal contact information with union organizers without written consent.
“Georgia is a right-to-work state, plain and simple and Georgia workers being pressured to unionize through coercive tactics is not acceptable,” said Garrison Douglas, a spokesperson for the governor. “While some continue to put the desires of union bosses first, we are putting workers first by ensuring their right to a secret ballot is protected.”
Georgia Democrats say the measure violates the 1935 National Labor Relations Act and argue it could have major consequences for the bottom lines of companies relying on incentives. However, companies could forego taxpayer-funded economic help and unionize.
“Governor Kemp loves to complain about government picking winners and losers … except when he does it to attack Georgia workers and the unions that represent them,” Democratic Party of Georgia spokesperson Dave Hoffman said in a statement. “Governor Kemp should follow his own advice and ‘do his damn job’ rather than continuing to sign bad laws that waste money and won’t help Georgians just to pay back his political donors.”
Business groups say it is necessary to stop unions from entering small businesses and workplaces.
“Union leaders want the power to force workers to say in front of their co-workers and union organizers whether they support the idea of joining the union. Union leaders know full well how intimidating and coercive that would be,” NFIB State Director Hunter Loggins said in a February statement. “The fact of the matter is that secret ballots are essential to our democracy. No one has a right to know how you vote.”
