Georgia’s 6,600 manufacturers contribute roughly 11 percent to the state’s total economic output. Combined we employ 408,000 workers with an average salary of around $70,000. From aerospace products and parts to textiles to machinery manufacturing, we are a major driver of the Peach State’s economic engine.
The past two years have proven to be challenging for the industry. The economic shutdown resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic forced us to turn our machines off for a brief time. And when we turned them back on, we had costly new compliance regulations to contend with. We made it through, but now supply chain disruptions and inflation are making it harder and more expensive to reach productivity goals.
Make no mistake, the Georgia economy is strong, and the state’s manufacturers are tough. Nevertheless, many manufacturers cannot withstand another economic body blow.
That’s why we are so concerned about legislation in Washington that makes it easier for labor unions to organize workplaces even when employees choose not to form or join a union.
The legislation is called the Protecting the Right to Organize Act (PRO Act). It has already passed the U.S. House of Representatives. It appeared to be stalled in the Senate until President Joe Biden revived it during his State of the Union Address saying, “let’s pass the PRO Act. When a majority of workers want to form a union, they shouldn’t be stopped.”
We absolutely stand for workers’ right to join a union if they want to. Unfortunately, the PRO Act goes so far beyond that.
For example, the PRO Act revokes workers’ rights to a secret ballot in union elections in favor of a system in which all votes are made public. Worse, it forces employers to hand over sensitive personal employee information, like home addresses and phone numbers, to union organizers. It isn’t hard to imagine how such a regime could result in workers being coerced to vote in favor of a union against their will.
Understand there is a significant cost associated with joining a union. Union dues in Georgia average almost $1,000 per year, even during times when skyrocketing inflation eats into our paychecks.
Thanks to Georgia’s right-to-work law, employees of a unionized workplace have a choice as to whether they want to pay these dues or not. The PRO Act would nullify Georgia’s law as well as the right-to-work laws in 26 other states.
Finally, the PRO Act would grant the National Labor Relations Board, the agency tasked with enforcing U.S. Labor law, unprecedented powers to overturn the results of union elections, even when employees overwhelmingly oppose a union. It further permits the Board to impose civil penalties ranging from $50,000 - $100,000 on employers it concludes have committed unfair labor practices. These practices could be unintentional mistakes like incorrectly displaying union election posters in a workplace. The PRO Act even exposes individual directors and officers of a company to these fines. It goes without saying these penalties do not apply to labor unions, which commit unfair practices themselves, of course.
These are just a few of the anti-employer, job-killing provisions within the PRO Act. There are still more, like new regulations that essentially kill the gig economy and the franchise business model.
Glenn Spencer, senior vice president of the Chamber of Commerce’s Employment Policy Division, has lambasted the measure.
“This legislation strips workers of their privacy, threatens private ballots, imposes California’s disastrous independent contractor test, jeopardizes employers’ right to free speech, and threatens the loss of a job should workers choose not to pay union dues,” he said. “This bill is a threat to America’s workers, employers, and our economy.”
Georgia’s job creators possess the grit and determination to withstand a pandemic, the supply chain mess and inflation. We’re getting it done. Many of us won’t be able to withstand bad public policy from our own federal government, however.
Our federal delegation, especially Senators Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff, must defend manufacturing employers and workers by killing the PRO Act once and for all.
Roy Bowen is president of the Georgia Association of Manufacturers.
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