Rocky Mountain News (Denver, CO), May 19, 2006, Friday

Copyright 2006 Denver Publishing Company
Rocky Mountain News (Denver, CO)

May 19, 2006 Friday
Final Edition

SECTION: COMMENTARY/EDITORIAL; Pg. 48A

HEADLINE: Bill prevents abuse, protects choice

BYLINE: Steve Adams

BODY:
Do you think your boss has the right to tell you how to vote? How about which church you should belong to? Your opinion on the war in Iraq? These are personal choices that every person should be able to decide on his or her own, without feeling forced, intimidated or coerced.
With that freedom in mind, the Colorado legislature has passed House Bill 1314, the Worker Freedom Act, to prevent employer abuses and establish minimum worker protections when it comes to issues of religion or politics in the workplace. The bill is headed to Gov. Bill Owens' desk, where he can choose to veto or sign it into law.
Colorado workers need this layer of legal protection, and here's why: Increasingly, employers are using the workplace as a forum for espousing their religious and political beliefs, and requiring employees to attend mandatory meetings to listen to those beliefs, regardless of their relevance to job performance. Employers have forced workers to listen to their views on gay marriage, presidential candidates, and to attend prayer breakfasts and other religious exercises. They really turn up the heat during election season, arguing that workers should vote for a certain candidate because that candidate is "good for the company," or "good for business."
While it's fine to express these beliefs, workers should not feel forced to obediently listen in order to keep their jobs.
That goes double for workers who are trying to form unions. Kate Bronfenbrenner with Cornell University's School of Industrial and Labor Relations estimates that 92 percent of all employers force their employees to attend mandatory meetings while employees are trying to organize a union. During these meetings, employers make threats such as loss of employment benefits or shuttering of the company if workers choose a union; employees who refuse to attend such meetings can be fired under the law.
Of course, employers are entitled to share their view of unions with their employees. Distributing literature or holding voluntary meetings are two perfectly acceptable ways to do so. But they should never use their position of power as bosses to force workers to listen against their will, and they should never harass, abuse or intimidate people for trying to make up their own minds.
Industry groups say employers have a right to make you listen to them, as long as it's on their dime. And if you don't like it, you know where the door is. That may be true when it comes to matters of job performance, but accepting someone else's political, religious or other beliefs should never be a condition of employment. Does that include workers' personal opinions of unions? You bet it does. Employers cannot force you to join their political party or religious group, nor can they force you to accept their beliefs on joining a union. And workers shouldn't have to put their livelihoods on the line to protect that freedom.
The Worker Freedom Act does not limit what employers can say; it forbids employers from forcing employees to listen. This distinction is critical because opponents of the bill say it is an attack on free speech. But the bill does not limit speech - it protects choice.
Experts on labor law say that the bill does not interfere with labor law under the National Labor Relations Act, because nowhere does the law give employers the right to compel workers to listen to their beliefs.
Signing the Worker Freedom bill into law will benefit everyone: it will give employees protection and legal ground to stand on when their rights are violated, and give employers a clear idea of what their boundaries are. When it comes to workers' rights, we should not be vague or slippery about what those rights are. Unless of course, we intend to violate them.

NOTES: Steve Adams is the president of the Colorado AFL-CIO.; SPEAKOUT