California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday signed legislation that will bar employers from delivering political or religious messages to employees unrelated to their job duties, the latest in a blue state push to protect unionization drives in the workplace.
The measure, Senate Bill 399, would prohibit employers from threatening to fire or retaliate against employees who decline to attend employer-sponsored meetings or declines to listen to messages about religious or political matters. Employers who violate the new law would be subject to a $500 fine per employee, and employees could bring civil actions in court to enforce compliance.
Labor leaders and Democratic backers of the bill said it was necessary to protect employees who are seeking to form a union in their workplaces. Businesses sometimes use mandatory meetings — dubbed “captive audience” meetings by labor groups — to caution against pro-union activities.
“California has a rich history of standing up for workers’ rights, and this bill continues that tradition — making sure employees have the freedom to make their own decisions without coercion,” Sen. Aisha Wahab (D), the bill’s lead sponsor, said in a statement. “We are proud to support the workers who keep our economy strong by giving them the right to work without fear of retaliation simply because they chose not to listen to political or religious messaging.”
Business groups unanimously opposed the legislation, which they said tramples free speech rights of employers. Some cautioned that the language in the new law is so overly broad that it would expose business owners to frivolous lawsuits.
“SB 399 effectively prohibits employers from providing a forum for discussion, debate and expressing their opinions regarding maters of public concern, which is protected under the First Amendment,” the California Chamber of Commerce wrote in a post opposing the measure.
In a letter to Newsom asking him to veto the bill, the California Hospital Association said the law would include meetings about pending legislative or regulatory proposals that would impact hospital operations.
“Prohibiting such critical communications is not only detrimental to patient care but also to a hospital’s legal obligation to comply with laws and regulations that will impact them,” the association wrote.
Bans on “captive audience” meetings are becoming increasingly popular in states controlled by Democrats, where legislators are seeking to boost unionization drives. Similar laws are already on the books in Connecticut, Maine, Minnesota, New York, Oregon, Vermont and Washington; a version in Illinois will take effect in January, after Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D) signed it earlier this year.
Business groups are virtually certain to sue to block the measure. Opponents say the law is preempted by the National Labor Relations Act, which leaves many decisions about workplace communications up to the National Labor Relations Board.
Those groups have already sued to block Minnesota’s version of a captive audience ban. That suit, making its way through federal district court, focuses on a First Amendment challenge.
“Small employers depend on their constitutional right to communicate freely with their employees, and they are concerned this law unreasonably limits open communication between employers and employees,” John Reynolds, Minnesota director of the National Federation of Independent Businesses, said in a statement when the suit was filed.
Labor unions have sought to expand organizing efforts into new businesses in recent years to combat the long-term decline in union membership across the country. Unions have scored big organizing wins in several Southern manufacturing facilities that build elements of electric vehicles, and workers at hundreds of Starbucks locations have voted to organize.
But the long-term trends are clear: The share of American workers who are members of unions or represented by unions has dropped by half in the last 40 years, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, from 20% in 1983 to just 10% in 2023.
There are fewer members of unions today, 14.4 million, than there were in 1983, 17.7 million, even though the country’s population has swelled by more than 100 million over that period.