MONTGOMERY — State Sen. Arthur Orr (R-Decatur) filed legislation on Tuesday barring businesses from receiving economic development incentives if they voluntarily recognize their employees' union under certain circumstances.
Orr said he was inspired to bring the bill after United Auto Workers (UAW) announced an ongoing unionization push by workers at a Hyundai plant in Montgomery and a Mercedes-Benz plant in Vance recently. Under existing law, a labor union may be recognized by an employer if a majority of employees sign cards pledging to join the union.
According to Orr's bill, no employer would be eligible to receive an economic development incentive for a project if the employer voluntarily grants recognition rights for the employees solely and exclusively on the basis of signed labor organization authorization cards if the selection of a bargaining representative may be conducted through a secret ballot election.
An employer who voluntarily discloses an employee's personal contact information to a labor organization or third party acting on behalf of a labor organization without the employee's prior written consent, unless otherwise required by state or federal law, would also be ineligible for economic development incentives.
"It's based on the recent Georgia legislation, and I saw that the UAW was making a push into Alabama to unionize here. It seems to me the importance of the secret ballot process to unionize or not unionize is very important. That's something that companies ought to be encouraged to do is to have that secret ballot vote and not go through a card check process where it's public and company employees know who is voting which way and then they're browbeaten either way," Orr told 1819 News on Tuesday. "Just let people make their minds up and vote accordingly in secret. It's that simple. If companies don't want to do that, they could forfeit any economic development incentives they receive."
The bill would not apply to any agreement between the state and an employer before Jan. 1, 2025. The bill would go into effect on October 1 if passed into law.
"Nobody that's received anything today would be in jeopardy of losing that. This state is a right-to-work state. We don't mind helping companies. We want them to locate here. Just give your employees a right to a secret ballot or private ballot if there's a union attempt at that company. Doesn't seem like it would be that difficult to follow," Orr said.
To connect with the author of this story or to comment, email caleb.taylor@1819News.com.
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