AOI joins with U.S. Chamber to file suit against Oregon's Employer "Gag" Law

Salem, OR – Associated Oregon Industries (AOI), in partnership with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, filed a federal lawsuit today arguing that a new Oregon law unconstitutionally eliminates an employer's federally-protected right to conduct mandatory meetings with employees to provide information on the effects and drawbacks of a unionized workplace. The new law – Senate Bill 519 – was passed by the 2009 Oregon legislature despite warnings from the business community that the legislation would violate federal law.

The case is Associated Oregon Industries and Chamber of Commerce of the United States v. Brad Avakian and Laborers' International Union of North America, Local No. 296.

"AOI demonstrated very clearly to the Oregon legislature that SB 519 was an unlawful and unconstitutional violation of an employer's federally-protected right to hold mandatory meetings with employees," said Jay Clemens, President & CEO of Associated Oregon Industries. "We are now forced to defend the free speech rights of Oregon employers in federal court because the Oregon legislature refused to do so."

In the federal lawsuit, AOI argues that federal law preempts Oregon's SB 519, which runs counter to 50 years of federal protection for employers' rights to hold mandatory meetings to rebut union rhetoric about unionizing. AOI's lawsuit also contends that SB 519 violates employers' speech rights guaranteed by the First Amendment. Oregon is the first state in the nation to pass an employer "gag" law. SB 519 is based on model legislation drafted by the AFL-CIO designed to undermine federally-protected employer speech rights on a state-by-state basis. Such a law is designed to give labor unions unprecedented power and advantage in union organizing campaigns.

"Right now, Oregon is the battleground for employer speech rights nationwide," said Jay Clemens. "Unions are having a hard enough time organizing workplaces based on merit, so their strategy now consists of unconstitutionally muzzling employers and changing the rules for their own gain on a state-by-state basis. Today, AOI and the U.S. Chamber are taking a stand for the rights of employers across our great country."