Anti-union bill would ban protesting at CEOs' homes, slap picketers with $1,000 fine
And make sit-ins a felony?
- Joeff Davis
- Occupy Atlanta has been camped out in front of the AT & T building since February 13.
So you're thinking about protesting outside the home of a CEO who's ignored his factory's shoddy working conditions. Maybe you and some friends are planning to stage a sit-in at that bank that's refused to modify loans.
Under legislation introduced by state Sen. Don Balfour, the former could result in a $1,000 fine. And the latter? Well, that could get you charged with a felony. Yes, despite the fact that Georgia has some of the weakest labor laws and lowest union memberships in the country, the Snellville Republicans wants to further clamp down on the organizations. And it looks like the Occupy movement won't get a pass either.
Balfour's Senate Bill 496 would, among other things, add "private residences" to the list of places where "mass picketing" about a labor dispute would be verboten. The legislation would also allow businesses to ask a judge to halt the protests. If the picketing continues, protesters could be slapped with a $1,000 fine. In addition, any union or organization which "continues to sponsor or assist in the prohibited activity" would be subject to $10,000 fine. Businesses which think they suffered damage from the picketing could ask for a cut of that cash.
What's most worrisome about the legislation, says Ben Speight, organizing director of the Teamsters Local 728, is a provision he thinks is a "direct reaction" to a Feb. 13 sit-in the labor union carried out with Occupy Atlanta and other organizations at AT&T's Midtown headquarters to protest layoffs at the telecommunications company. Twelve protesters were arrested for criminal trespass, a misdemeanor.
If SB 496 were approved, however, protesters could have been convicted of both criminal trespass and conspiracy to commit criminal trespass, a felony which could result in up to one year in prison and a fine of up to $10,000.
"That's a blatant silencing of dissent and basic freedoms," he says.