Alabama Senate committee OKs bill that could punish voluntary union recognitions

An Alabama Senate committee Wednesday approved a bill that would withhold economic incentives from companies that voluntarily recognize unions or do not hold secret ballots in union elections. .

SB 231, sponsored by Sen. Arthur Orr, R-Decatur, passed the Senate Fiscal Responsibility and Economic Development Committee on an 11-3 vote, down party lines. 

“It just says you got to vote by private ballot and that would prevent a company lawyer from strong arming employees, ‘Need to vote against this, need to vote against it, against this,’” Orr said. “(It) would prevent a union from strong arming employees saying ‘You got to vote for it, you got to vote for it.’”.

The legislation is similar to legislation by legislatures in Georgia and Tennessee. The bill comes as workers at the Mercedes-Benz plant in Vance and the Hyundai plant in Montgomery are considering joining the United Auto Workers over pay and benefit issues. The organization efforts have sparked sharp criticism from Gov. Kay Ivey and the Business Council of Alabama. 

The bill would require companies that violate its terms to pay back any economic incentives received. The terms would not apply to benefits given to companies before Jan. 1, 2025.

According to the U.S. Department of Labor, union elections conducted by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) are done through secret ballot.

Sen. Garlan Gudger, R-Cullman, chair of the Fiscal Responsibility and Economic Development Committee, said that three people signed up to speak for the bill and 16 to speak against it. Gudger, citing fairness and time issues, allowed all three supporters to speak and three of the 16 opponents to speak. 

Stephanie Smith, president of the Alabama Policy Institute, a conservative-leaning non-profit, said that secret ballots would prevent intimidation.

“However, even if those things never happen once in the state of Alabama, private elections with secret ballots provide both the time and ability for employees to reflect upon and make decisions that impact their work and their families,” she said.

Opponents said that the bill would hurt workers in the state.

Mustafa Hassan, president of the Communication Workers of America Local 3905 in Huntsville, said his union helped keep jobs in the area. He said that his union had the option to go forward with the card check process and were able to go forward with contract bargaining.

“The union is the workers,” he said. “It’s not a separate entity.”

Clementine Jenkins, a company representative for the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, said the bill would restrict better-paying jobs. She also said that higher wages would mean more income tax collected.

“So why would you want to restrict yourself by restricting employees who can join the union?” she said.

While the state’s union numbers trail the rest of the nation’s, Alabama has the highest unionization rate in the South. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 156,000 Alabamians (7.5% of the workforce) belonged to a union in 2023, up from 149,000 the previous year. Another 180,000 workers (8.6% of the workforce) were represented by a union. Union membership in Alabama grew by about 7,000 workers last year, according to BLS.

Despite the party line vote, members of the committee expressed varying opinions about the legislation and the role of unions. Sen. Sam Givhan, R-Huntsville, who voted for the bill, also later expressed concerns about governments telling private companies how to operate.

“I’m just reluctant about the principle about telling the business what they do on that issue,” he said.

Sen. David Sessions, R-Grand Bay, said he wasn’t anti-union but not every company can afford union employees.

“If those companies unionized, you’re putting them out of business,” he said.

Sen. Merika Coleman, D-Pleasant Grove, said that she was a lawyer who was based on facts and said she was hearing a lot of what-ifs.

“But I want to know what are the facts, what are the facts?” she said. “I heard my colleagues say that unionization causes companies to close their doors? Where is that cited? Where is the report that shows us that? Please bring us some actual facts and not might happen, can be, maybe, might lead to, but even if it doesn’t do that, we need to pass this piece of legislation, anyway.”

Sen. Vivian Davis Figures, D-Mobile, said that her father was a union member, and his union status helped her family. She said that some employers are making more money than they or their descendants could spend.

“I don’t understand the greediness of it,” she said. “Also, when you pay people properly and you give them good conditions to work in, the morale is higher, the productivity is higher, so it all works together. So, I don’t want to do anything that’s going to squander a person’s right to feel that they need to have to be a part of a union or that they need to organize because it is and most of them wouldn’t want to organize if things were going right.” 

After the vote, many of the people there for the legislation left the room with one person exclaiming that it’s “The people’s house, not the politicians. Never forget who you work for.”

The bill received an amendment that would include agreements between employers and a county or municipality.

The bill moves to the full Senate.