(The Center Square) — A controversial New York law that would allow organized labor to take legal action against groups that discourage union membership has drawn a legal challenge.
The lawsuit, filed Monday in U.S. District Court Albany by the Washington, D.C.-based Freedom Foundation, claims the new law is an “unconstitutional” effort to block their work in New York and elsewhere to educate workers about their First Amendment right to opt out of union membership.
“New York’s government unions had a choice,” said Freedom Foundation CEO Aaron Withe. “They could make the case to their own members why they’re worth the money, or they could get the state to make it illegal to hear any other point of view. They chose the latter.”
The Democratic plan, signed by Gov. Kathy Hochul earlier this month, makes it illegal to “falsely impersonate” a union representative and give state Attorney General Letitia James broad powers to investigate, subpoena and fine any person or organization — including out-of-state groups — for communications deemed impersonations. The fine is $1,000 per violation.
But lawyers for the foundation said the new rules are part of broader efforts by Democratic-led states to silence groups seeking to advise workers about their right not to join a union.
“Telling a public employee the truth about their constitutional rights isn’t impersonation,” Withe said, “and it isn’t a crime. We’re asking the court to say so.”
There was no immediate comment from James, whose office will be defending the law court.
The new law is based on an Oregon law that the foundation is currently challenging in court. But New York’s rules go further than Oregon’s by granting a “private right of action,” allowing unions to file lawsuits against out-of-state parties that could result in devastating fines, the group said.
Nearly 7,500 New York public employees — out of approximately 968,000 covered by union contracts — have used Freedom Foundation materials to cancel their membership, including more than 1,400 so far this year, the group said.
Union leaders claim that the protections are needed to safeguard workers’ rights and to push back against conservative groups seeking to reduce public-sector membership. They say workers who get union benefits, such as legal representation in arbitration cases, and should have to pay something.
Conservative groups say Democrats, and the labor unions that heavily fund their campaigns, are trying to find a way around the 2018 U.S. Supreme Court ruling, which held that government workers cannot be forced to contribute to labor unions. to drum up dues.
Organized labor spends millions of dollars lobbying state governments and lawmakers through political action committees, and most of that money goes to Democrats, according to government watchdogs.
“The First Amendment doesn’t allow a state to pick a side in a debate and then punish the other side’s speech,” Freedom Foundation Deputy Chief Litigation Counsel Shella Alcabes said in a statement. “That’s exactly the kind of chilling effect the Constitution forbids.”