In a move that has ruffled feathers across labor unions, the Georgia House passed a bill Wednesday that adds hurdles for companies aiming to be in the good graces of state tax incentives while attempting to organize unions. Senate Bill 362, endorsed by no-nonsense Gov. Brian Kemp, skated through the House with a vote tally of 96-78 and is now on its way to becoming law, according to a report by WABE.
The bill stipulates that unionization at these companies can only be effectively recognized through a secret ballot election, sidelining signing of union cards as a valid method for this purpose. House Democrats have laid out their case, claiming that the measure is out of step with federal law, with the opposition's voice rising clearly from the likes of Democratic State Rep. Saira Draper, who forewarned, "If this bill passes, there will be a lawsuit, and it will cost Georgia taxpayers millions of dollars, and the state will lose," in a statement obtained by WABE.
Joining the dissenters, Dewey McClain, former president of the Atlanta North Georgia Labor Council AFL-CIO, cut to the quick, dismissing the bill's necessity with a pithy critique: "This bill is a solution in search of a problem." The urgency of their argument stems from the position Georgia ranks in union membership — pegged at eighth-lowest in the nation, adding another layer of complexity to an already tangled debate.
House Republicans, however, stand by their claim that the bill steers clear of violating the National Labor Relations Act, with lawmakers like Republican Rep. Bill Werkheiser drawing on experiences from their northern neighbor. "I contacted the legislature in Tennessee. The chief counsel for the speaker's office let me know that it’s been a year since the bills passed, and there has been no litigation with the National Labor Board," Werkheiser said, according to a prior statement.
With the ink about to dry on SB-362, Georgia AFL-CIO's political director, Hannah Perkins, is bracing for an impending battle, projecting a lawsuit to perhaps appear as early as 2025 when the legislation is in full swing. Simultaneously, the organization's president Yvonne Brooks keeps the pressure dialed up, decrying the legislation as an affront to the working class: "We strongly condemn the passage of SB-362," Brooks expressed in a press release. "Georgia’s working families deserve lawmakers who will defend our right to organize and advocate for good union jobs with fair pay and good benefits."
