SENATE BILL: The Walter Reuther & Cesar Chavez Solidarity Act (Passed)

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

SENATE BILL

Be it enacted in Both Houses of Congress Assembled,

The Walter Reuther & Cesar Chavez Solidarity Act

Section 1:No Fire

1A.) It is hereby unlawful for any employer to fire or discipline any employee for joining a trade union, encouraging colleagues to join a union or attempting to form a union or organise within their workplace.

1B.) Any employer found guilty of breaching Section 1A shall be fined $5,000 after the first breach, $10,000 after the second breach and an additional $20,000 for each subsequent breach.

1C.) The Attorney General shall have the authority to introduce additional fines on companies found to breaching this regulation on successive occasions.

Section 2: Recognition

2A.) A union shall be recongised within any workplace providing that a majority of employees submit a signed affirmation in favour of unionisation.

Section 3: Solidarity Forever

3A.) Solidarity Strikes, or secondary strikes are hereby legal- under the provision that a ballot of union members is held with more than 50% voting in favour.

Section 4: Farm Workers are Workers

4A.) The National Labor Relations Act 1935 is hereby amended to include farm workers, and no limit shall be placed upon them

Section 5: Level Playing Field

5A.) No employer shall be allowled to limit, control or deny access for their employees to discuss or meet with their union representatives.

5B.) Employers shall not be allowled to use company resources to fund or provide literature or promotional material which encourages their employees not to join or become a member of a trade union.

5C.) It is hereby illegal for an employer to use any form of surveillance to monitor, track or disrupt the lawful activities of union officals within the workplace.

Section 6: The room where it happens.

6A.) All public limited companies shall have at least 1 trade union appointed offical as a sitting and voting member of their board of directors.

Sponsor: Blair
Senate Designation: SB28:08

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

I have always supported fair, free and open elections regulated and policed by the Department of labor with appropriate punitive actions taken whenever companies violate workers rights to said votes, engage in intimidation or otherwise impede such. Therefore I would be opposed to the provision regarding card check or signed affirmation in this case.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

The compromise is better than nothing in this regards, so  I will take what I can get.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

Are the signed affirmations publicly accessible? If so, doesn't that pose the same retaliation risk Scott talked about?

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

Sponsor?

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

We still have a pending amendment here.

Sponsor?

I hereby move to sponsor given my affinity for unions.

We have a sponsor, I was asking him to give feedback with that post.

Apologies for missing this- I move for a final vote

So what about tack's amendment?

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

A vote is now open on this amendment, Senators please vote Aye, Nay or Abstain.


Be honest blair, you just wanted a vote here.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

AYE


I do think further refinement to the handling may necessary afterwards.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

Aye

Welcome to the Senate.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

Why should it be illegal to distribute mere speech aka anti-union literature to employees? If employees are forced to go training I believe they are still required to get paid right?

It is not a level playing field if some dude can create a union and describe any theoretical benefits while the employer can't do the opposite. Either ban all union related literature within a workplace or don't ban a specific aspect.

In my preferred world as I stated previously, which I doubt I can get passed with current membership. It would be a free and open election administered by the Dept of Labor. Both sides would make their case, their would be a secret ballot and strict penalties for any intimidation by either side.

My Labor colleagues seem to think that this forever has to operate as some kind of clandestine spy mission sneaking past the German guards to steel the radar plans and destroy the prototype, but they seem to forget that we have the means to ensure compliance, we have the power to set the rules to regulate this and we can allow a free, fair and open election without the risks of it being undermined in RL. The reasons for this are ample including the lack of donor money and less corruptible administrative agency.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

I thought Tack's amendment was adopted if I didn't object within 24 hours- but still I'll never turn down a vote.

Aye

I don't think it is a set time but if the feedback doesn't come it goes to a vote. 24 hours and objections only applies after sponsor feedback is given.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

The reasoning for doing so is that in my view there is rarely a level-playing if you allow companies to promote anti-union stances; whether it's through internal message boards at work, scary presentations using 'internal projections' or information the moment new employees work.

Seeing as we have elections if they can't reach the 50% threshold I assume that we'd still seeing campaigning in this context?

Yeah, I agree with Blair that anti union actions by the companies aren't really a level playing field. Even when you formally ban being fired for trying to organize a union honestly it is still very easy for me to see companies firing people for stuff like "low productivity" or whatever and just making up the reasons.

But where does the line get drawn? Once you ban the whole other side of an argument, how can you have a fair process?

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

Honestly I find the entire concept of anti-union training at companies extremely creepy and predatory and it is something that should be indeed restricted or banned.

The union organizers and the owners of the company are not in an equal position. The latter are clearly in a position of privilege.

Is their a line btw anti union training and anti union campaigning during the course of s regulated process overseen by Dol.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

Forgot to post the results from the previous Amendment vote.

Aye (5): Blair, Falterin, NC Yankee, Tack and Spark
Nay (0):
Abstain (0):

Didn't Vote (1): Devout Centrist

This amendment has passed.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

Senators have 24 hours to object to Blair's latest amendment.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

The amendment is adopted.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

I motion for a final vote

Using my new found gavel to formally put 24 hours notice to object for this

Nice, some initiative.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

A Final vote is now open on this legislation, Senators please vote Aye, Nay or Abstain.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

Nay

While I am favorable towards the improvements made, this bill moves way from my favored model stated earlier of fair, impartial elections administered by DoL.


This has votes to pass, Senators have 24 hours to change their votes.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

Vote on Final Passage of the Walter Reuther and Cesar Chavez Solidarity Act:

Aye (5): Blair, Devout, Falterin, Spark and Tack50
Nay (1): NC Yankee
Abstain (0):

Didn't Vote (0):

This has passed and sent to the VP for House action.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

I am not going to have time to compile the final text until I get home, I am pushing my luck with being late for work as it is.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

SENATE BILL

Be it enacted in both houses of Congress Assembled,

The Walter Reuther & Cesar Chavez Solidarity Act

Section 1:No Fire

1A.) It is hereby unlawful for any employer to fire or discipline any employee for joining a trade union, encouraging colleagues to join a union or attempting to form a union or organize within their workplace.

1B.) Any employer found guilty of breaching Section 1A shall be fined $5,000 after the first breach, $10,000 after the second breach and an additional $20,000 for each subsequent breach.

1C.) The Attorney General shall have the authority to introduce additional fines on companies found to breaching this regulation on successive occasions.

Section 2: Recognition

2A.) A union shall be recognized within any workplace providing that more than 50% of employees submit a signed affirmation in favor of unionization.

2B.) If less than 50% but more than 30% of employees submit a signed affirmation in favor of unionization then a secret ballot shall be held by employees on whether to unionize.

2C.) These signed affirmations may only be publicly accessible in an anonymous manner. No individual workers may be identified by signing an affirmation

Section 3: Solidarity Forever

3A.) Solidarity Strikes, or secondary strikes are hereby legal- under the provision that a ballot of union members is held with more than 50% voting in favor.

Section 4: Farm Workers are Workers

4A.) The National Labor Relations Act 1935 is hereby amended to include farm workers, and no limit shall be placed upon them

Section 5: Level Playing Field

5A.) No employer shall be allowed to limit, control or deny access for their employees to discuss or meet with their union representatives.

5B.) Employers shall not be allowed to use company resources to fund or provide literature or promotional material which encourages their employees not to join, except during a permitted election under section 2B, where a spending limit shall be approved by the National Labor Relations board

5C.) It is hereby illegal for an employer to use any form of surveillance to monitor, track or disrupt the lawful activities of union officials within the workplace.

Section 6: The room where it happens.

6A.) All public limited companies shall have at least 1 trade union appointed official as a sitting and voting member of their board of directors.

People's Regional Senate
Passed 5-1 in the Atlasian Senate Assembled,