A.3350 (John)

STAFF CONTACT :

BILL

A.3350 (John)

SUBJECT

Use of public funds to communicate about a workplace election

DATE

Oppose

This bill would amend the labor law and prohibit employers from using public funds to communicate with employees about a workplace election. The Business Council opposes its enactment.

Denying employees important employer information
Choosing or rejecting union representation is one of the most important workplace decisions that an employee will ever make. Employees need information to make their decision. This is why the organizing “campaign” has been such an important part of the process for decades.

During a “campaign,” the union and the employer have an opportunity to provide information to employees in an attempt to convince the employees that their approach is better, all under appropriate rules contained in federal or state labor law.

The state labor law already prohibits the use of state funds for training an organization's managers and supervisors to communicate to their employees about union representation. This bill goes further in prohibiting the use of any public funds for such communications.

Thus, employees of organizations that depend on state and public funding sources will have even less information upon which to base a decision on workplace representation.

Unfortunately, this bill is another example of the movement toward “top down” organizing where rights that employees and employers have enjoyed for decades are being denied.

For these reasons, The Business Council respectfully requests that this bill not be enacted by the Assembly.