A State Attorney in Arizona is asking a judge to throw out a lawsuit filed by local unions that seeks to overturn two laws passed earlier this year that would greatly limit union effectiveness. The statutes in question place limits on where and when unions can protest and make it tougher for unions to collect dues.
Republican politicians in Arizona are pushing hard for new restrictions on picketing private property, but the law also stretches into restricting protesters' actions on public sidewalks. According to the Arizona Daily Sun, the law also puts highly subjective limits on “mass assembly” which makes it illegal to "assemble other than in a reasonable and peaceful manner."
The union attorneys said some of the picketing they do now might be considered "unreasonable" by some, ranging from raised voices or noisemakers, or where certain words are used like "scab" to describe a strikebreaker.
"Such provision is likely to have a chilling effect on any assembly of workers as workers would have no way of knowing what a judge would consider 'unreasonable' in assembling," the lawsuit states.
State Senator Frank Antenori, R–Tucson, sponsored the bill and although he admitted that it was possible the mass assembly provisions could have a chilling effect, he said that he was looking out for business owners and their rights to sue for libel.
Antenori acknowledged there are already laws that allow someone who has been defamed to sue. But he said that process can take too much time. And in the interim, Antenori said, a company's business can be ruined.
When it comes to the provisions that make it harder for union workers to donate money out of their paychecks to political causes, Antenori has stated that he is looking to make sure union members are not being improperly forced to contribute to causes in which they might not believe. These kinds of laws, commonly referred to as Paycheck Deception, have passed in other conservative states such as Kansas. These laws are understood in progressive circles not as a means to protect workers, but rather as a way to make it more difficult for unions to collect the dues which are the lifeblood their operations.
Andrew Morrill, President of the Arizona Education Association, echoed this sentiment:
He (Morrill) pointed out that Arizona is a "right to work" state, meaning no one can be forced to join a union. He said people join the AEA because they support the organization's goals.
"This bill attempts to quiet the voices of Arizona's educators as they speak up for their profession, their students and for public education," he said in a prepared statement.
Read the entire AZ Daily Sun piece HERE.