US Chamber of Commerce and AOI file lawsuit

Yesterday the US Chamber of Commerce and AOI filed a lawsuit trying to prevent the Worker Freedom Act from taking effect on January 1st. Below is our response.

For Immediate Release Contact: Elana Guiney 503-803-3151

Chamber, AOI, Sue to Force Workers into Captive Audience Meeting

AOI and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce filed a lawsuit today arguing that S.B. 519 is unconstitutional.

S.B. 519, known as the Worker Freedom Act, prevents employers from punishing workers who opt-out of mandatory meetings on topics like politics and religion. Some large employers, like Wal-Mart, are known for calling workers into a meeting where they are then lectured about how their employer thinks they should vote in an upcoming election (See Wal-Mart Warns Workers of Democratic Win).

AOI and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce claim S.B. 519, which takes affect January 1st, violates federal law and the first Amendment. In actuality, it addresses separate issues from the laws they refer to, and specifically protects both an employer's right to free speech (see Section 2[4]h) and a workers right to be free from unwanted communication (see Hill v. Colorado, 530 US 703 [2000]).

"Some employers seem to be threatened by the idea that they will no longer be able to fire or punish workers who don't want to sit down and listen to their opinions on non-work-related topics," said Tom Chamberlain, Oregon AFL-CIO President. "But for too may years Oregonians have felt threatened by their bosses telling them how to vote or what to believe. SB 519 is necessary, overwhelmingly supported by Oregonians, and legal."

The Oregon AFL-CIO is unsure of why members of AOI and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce think that being punished for asking not to attend a lecture on political and religious views is a reasonable condition of employment in Oregon.

The full text of S.B. 519 is available here.

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Posted on December 23, 2009 in Weekly Update.