Special Session: Employer gag bill update

OregonWatchdog.com - The [Oregon] House Business Committee will introduce yet another re-write of the “employer gag bill,” again at the behest of the AFL-CIO. This is the second re-write in addition to the passage of the original SB 519 last year. The new bill will expand the political content that employers are prohibited from discussing with employees to include ballot measures. However, the new bill will specify that employers are allowed to hold mandatory meetings on such things as workplace safety and other topics directly related to the job. AOI’s legal counsel has assured AOI that the new bill will not sidetrack our pending federal lawsuit challenging the validity of SB 519.

AOI’s lawsuit against SB 519 (2009) is progressing toward a hearing for Summary Judgment in early April in federal court in Portland. AOI, in conjunction with the US Chamber of Commerce, is challenging SB 519 as an illegal intrusion on federal labor law as well as an unconstitutional abridgement of an employer’s First Amendment free speech rights.

See reports on three additional business related bills at OregonBusinessReport.com.