03/27/2024 03:15 PM House LABOR & COMMERCE

            HB 179-EMPLOYEE RIGHTS, EMPLOYER SPEECH                                                                         
                                                                                                                                
3:20:47 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR SUMNER announced that the  first order of business would be                                                               
HOUSE  BILL NO.  179, "An  Act relating  to employee  rights; and                                                               
providing for an effective date."                                                                                               
                                                                                                                                
3:21:22 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE WRIGHT,  as the prime sponsor,  introduced HB 179.                                                               
He said  HB 179  would put  an end to  meetings held  during work                                                               
hours  where  employees are  forced  to  listen to  religious  or                                                               
political  discussions  with the  threat  of  punishment if  they                                                               
don't comply.   Such practices  undermine democracy,  the freedom                                                               
of thought, and  the right to disagree, he submitted.   He stated                                                               
that HB  179 proposes  a solution  that is  a fair  compromise in                                                               
that  it allows  for  political or  religious  discussion in  the                                                               
workplace while  ensuring these  conversations are  voluntary and                                                               
employees  are   respected  and   protected  in   the  workplace,                                                               
balancing the freedom of expression with individual rights.                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
3:23:14 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
RACHAEL  GUNN,  Staff,  Representative  Stanley  Wright,  ,Alaska                                                               
State Legislature,  spoke to HB  179 on behalf  of Representative                                                               
Wright, prime  sponsor.  She  stressed that there is  an inherent                                                               
power imbalance  in the workplace  because the boss  controls the                                                               
employee's schedule, vacation time,  raises, and can terminate an                                                               
at-will  employee.   On the  clock,  hours-long captive  audience                                                               
meetings, she continued, illuminate  these power dynamics because                                                               
they  are   aimed  at  indoctrinating  employees   with  specific                                                               
political or religious ideologies,  not enhancing productivity or                                                               
fostering  teamwork, and  they send  a clear  message to  fall in                                                               
line or face the consequences.                                                                                                  
                                                                                                                                
MS. GUNN  said the crux  of coercion  is the clear  distortion of                                                               
choice.   She cited  a 2015  study which found  that one  in four                                                               
workers  have  been  contacted  by  their  employer  regarding  a                                                               
political matter.   Of these  workers, she continued,  20 percent                                                               
received  messages from  their  boss that  included  one or  more                                                               
threats of  job loss, business  closure, or changes to  wages and                                                               
hours, which calculates  into the figure of 5  percent of workers                                                               
nationally being  subjected to coercive  meetings.   She reported                                                               
that  US  employers  annually pour  433  million  tax  deductible                                                               
dollars  into   union  avoidance   strategies,  such   as  hiring                                                               
consultants and  subjecting employees  to as  many as  10 captive                                                               
audience meetings  during union  election campaigns.   She stated                                                               
that  HB 179  ensures dignity  and  balance in  the workplace  by                                                               
ensuring  that  employees are  no  longer  subjected to  coercive                                                               
captive audience meetings, thus  protecting their right to think,                                                               
speak, and  vote according to  their own beliefs without  fear of                                                               
retribution or coercion.                                                                                                        
                                                                                                                                
3:25:34 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
PATRICK FITZGERALD,  Political Coordinator, Teamsters  Local 959,                                                               
provided invited  testimony in  favor of  HB 179.   He  defined a                                                               
"captive audience meeting"  as a group of  workers being summoned                                                               
by their employer  or manager to a meeting during  work hours and                                                               
subjugated  to  listening  to  a   one-way  conversation  of  the                                                               
personal beliefs of  their employer or manager.   He said captive                                                               
audience meetings  happen all the time  in Alaska.  He  cited one                                                               
example of a  garbage truck operation that hired  a consultant to                                                               
dissuade its  workers from joining  a union, and  another example                                                               
where  non-union workers  were told  to take  their tools  and go                                                               
home if  they didn't want  to be  filmed in advertisements  for a                                                               
political candidate.                                                                                                            
                                                                                                                                
MR.  FITZGERALD  said  the most  worrisome  of  captive  audience                                                               
meetings  are those  that begin  as a  safety meeting,  which are                                                               
allowed,  but the  meeting  then rapidly  changes  to a  coercive                                                               
meeting  that tries  to influence  the workers  for political  or                                                               
religious purposes.   He stated  that HB 179  provides protection                                                               
when such meetings take place  and workers identify the change in                                                               
tone and decide  to exercise their right not to  participate.  He                                                               
advised that the  bill does not offer protection  for workers who                                                               
choose to leave a meeting  that is discussing real safety updates                                                               
or  operational information  that  employees need  to  know.   He                                                               
further advised that  the bill does not prevent  a business owner                                                               
or manager  from posting  the aspects of  these meetings  and the                                                               
workers  are allowed  to return  to work  when the  scope of  the                                                               
meetings finds  its way to  political or religious coercion.   He                                                               
said the protections provided in HB  179 are needed in Alaska and                                                               
will allow for  workers to have their right of  freedom of speech                                                               
at the workplace and to  not feel political or religious pressure                                                               
from their boss or supervisor.  He urged that HB 179 be passed.                                                                 
                                                                                                                                
3:28:56 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE PRAX  inquired about  anecdotes such  as newspaper                                                               
stories or  other public  records that  could help  determine how                                                               
frequently captive audience meetings are occurring in Alaska.                                                                   
                                                                                                                                
MR. FITZGERALD replied that he  will check on whether anything is                                                               
available  publicly that  he can  share with  the committee.   He                                                               
added that  Teamsters Local 959  has heard  firsthand experiences                                                               
about  such meetings,  but he  doesn't  know the  extent of  that                                                               
being public and will get back to the committee.                                                                                
                                                                                                                                
3:30:03 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE SADDLER  recalled Mr. Fitzgerald's  statement that                                                               
captive audience  meetings "happen all  the time" and  asked what                                                               
this is based on.  He  further recalled Ms. Gunn's statistic that                                                               
5 percent of  workers nationally have been  subjected to coercive                                                               
meetings.   He asked whether  there are any  extrapolations which                                                               
might indicate  that more or  less than  5 percent of  workers in                                                               
Alaska are subjected to such meetings.                                                                                          
                                                                                                                                
MR. FITZGERALD  answered that he  used the phrase "all  the time"                                                               
because Local  595 is witness to  it as a labor  union and offers                                                               
protection to workers.   He deferred to Ms. Gunn  for providing a                                                               
percentage.                                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE  SADDLER  asked whether  "all  the  time" means  a                                                               
continual  or  endless  series of  meetings  given  no  objective                                                               
number is specified.                                                                                                            
                                                                                                                                
MR.  FITZGERALD replied  that  he is  referring  to it  happening                                                               
multiple  times in  multiple industries  and multiple  companies.                                                               
He related  that Local 959 has  had it happen every  now and then                                                               
when trying to organize and  employees were subjected to coercive                                                               
meetings trying to influence them to not  be part of a union.  He                                                               
added that it happens with non-union organizations quite a bit.                                                                 
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE SADDLER  stated that multiple times  does not give                                                               
him a  basis on  which to make  a decision, so  he would  like to                                                               
hear an objective measure to understand how often it happens.                                                                   
                                                                                                                                
MS. GUNN  responded that extrapolating  data for Alaska  is hard,                                                               
but according  to the Economic  Policy Institute's  2015 national                                                               
level study that  she cited earlier one in  four American workers                                                               
has  been  contacted  by their  employer  regarding  a  political                                                               
matter,  and 20  percent  out  of that  25  percent had  directly                                                               
received threats  of job  loss, business  closure, or  changes to                                                               
wages and hours.                                                                                                                
                                                                                                                                
3:33:21 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE FIELDS  noted that Amazon has  used these coercive                                                               
tactics  in every  job  site where  employees  have attempted  to                                                               
unionize.  This is timely,  he continued, given Amazon is opening                                                               
a facility in  Anchorage and Alaska is  having more international                                                               
commerce from very large union busting companies.                                                                               
                                                                                                                                
3:33:42 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR SUMNER drew attention to  the sponsor's list of exemptions.                                                               
He  asked  whether  the  exemption  for an  employer  that  is  a                                                               
political organization is or is not addressed [in HB 179].                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
MS. GUNN replied  that Section 2(c) of the bill  provides that an                                                               
employer   or  its   representative   is   not  prohibited   from                                                               
communicating information  that is legally required  or necessary                                                               
for an  employee's job duties.   She  provided two examples:   an                                                               
employer that hosts  wedding events would need  to communicate to                                                               
staff the cultural  sensitives of a wedding done  under a certain                                                               
religion; and when there is  a ballot initiative that an employer                                                               
has  an extremely  vested interest  in  conveying the  employer's                                                               
viewpoint to its employees.                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR  SUMNER asked  whether it  would be  a violation  under the                                                               
bill if an employer opened its meetings with a prayer.                                                                          
                                                                                                                                
MS. GUNN  responded that the  bill doesn't ban  religious imagery                                                               
or  communication in  the workplace,  rather  the bill's  primary                                                               
purpose is political or religious  ideology sharing.  She said an                                                               
employer or  employee is  not prohibited  from having  imagery in                                                               
the  workplace  if that  is  accepted  by  the employer  and  the                                                               
employer could have religious imagery or a prayer.                                                                              
                                                                                                                                
3:36:03 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE CARRICK  asked whether  the threat  of retaliation                                                               
makes it  difficult to  gather solid data  from employees  on how                                                               
frequently this practice happens.                                                                                               
                                                                                                                                
MR. FITZGERALD answered that under  labor organizations an unfair                                                               
labor practice (ULP) is filed  through an organized working group                                                               
and  those can  be tracked.   With  an organized  union employees                                                               
have  protection to  share that  information, he  said, but  with                                                               
non-organized industries  or workplaces it's a  more difficult to                                                               
find that information.                                                                                                          
                                                                                                                                
3:37:23 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE PRAX inquired whether  this may already be covered                                                               
via  employees   filing  a  complaint   with  the   Human  Rights                                                               
Commission or, in  the case of a labor union,  by both the people                                                               
trying  to organize  a union  and the  company filing  complaints                                                               
that are resolved by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).                                                                 
                                                                                                                                
MS.  GUNN  responded  that  the  2010  Supreme  Court  ruling  in                                                               
Citizens United v. Federal Election  Commission gave cart blanche                                                               
for  political spending  and essentially  gave a  federal license                                                               
for these political  meetings for captive audiences.   There is a                                                               
federal  preemption for  labor  organizing  activities under  the                                                               
National Labor Relations Act (NLRA),  she continued, but the NRLA                                                               
does not  protect from captive  audience meetings because  of the                                                               
2010 supreme court Citizens United ruling.                                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE PRAX  asked whether  the sponsor has  checked with                                                               
the Human Rights Commission regarding any cases.                                                                                
                                                                                                                                
MS. GUNN replied that she will  get back to the committee with an                                                               
answer.                                                                                                                         
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE  PRAX related  that  his father  ran a  restaurant                                                               
where  politically oriented  books were  sold, so  employees were                                                               
exposed  to those  views  when  selling the  books.   He  further                                                               
related  that   he  himself  had   a  bookstore  where   he  sold                                                               
politically oriented books.  He  asked how things would come into                                                               
play in these two examples.                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
MS.  GUNN answered  that  the bill  is  exclusively referring  to                                                               
employers taking adverse actions  against employees who refuse to                                                               
attend meetings where the primary  function is to communicate the                                                               
employer's views  on political or  religious matters,  unless, as                                                               
provided  in the  exemptions, it  has  something to  do with  the                                                               
employees'  job.   For example,  she  continued, if  a prayer  is                                                               
conducted where  everybody is  forced to  pray together  out loud                                                               
and to  say what they got  from the prayers, and  retaliation was                                                               
taken against  someone who was  unwilling to participate  in that                                                               
conversation.                                                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                
3:42:07 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE SADDLER surmised that  employees would be paid for                                                               
attending a safety meeting called  by their employer.  He further                                                               
surmised  that  employees would  also  be  paid for  attending  a                                                               
meeting called for coercive purposes.                                                                                           
                                                                                                                                
MS. GUNN  responded that while  the sponsor has seen  evidence of                                                               
captive  audience meetings  taking place  outside of  work hours,                                                               
that isn't  the primary purpose  of the bill.   This legislation,                                                               
she said,  is intended to carve  out the ability for  an employee                                                               
to choose to  go back to their regular work  rather than attend a                                                               
meeting that the  employee knows will be a  union busting meeting                                                               
or on a political or religious topic.                                                                                           
                                                                                                                                
3:43:28 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR SUMNER announced that HB 179 was held over.