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There is a storm starting to brew up regarding the Captive Audience Bill that came out of the Joint Standing Committee on the Judiciary during the WV Legislature Interim Session at the end of November. Basically what the Bill does is bar employers from making attendance compulsory for employees when the topics to be discussed are political or religious. A synopsis discussing this Bill can be read here in an article by Mannix Porterfield in the Beckley Register Herald. CHARLESTON, W.Va. — An effort to bar employers from staging mandatory talks in the workplace to discuss political and religious matters under the threat of retaliation against workers who boycott them cleared its first hurdle Wednesday.
But the so-called “captive audience” measure didn’t exit the Joint Standing Committee on the Judiciary without a spirited battle.
After a lengthy debate, Delegate Tim Miley, D-Harrison, coaxed a divided voice vote in sending it out with a recommendation for approval by the full Legislature next year.
Have you ever found yourself in the position of having to attend a "meeting" at work with politicians running for office? I have... and it is not a very pleasant experience when the candidates that are being thrust on you are Republicans with no offset on the Democratic side. My boss actually required every one of his employees to gather in one place to hear political speeches by candidates running for state offices. My feelings are pretty clear on this subject... the owner of a company certainly can conduct a meeting and present political views, however, I as well as anyone else working for the company should be free to walk out or choose not to attend and not have to worry about any retaliation or punishment for not participating. Of course not attending or walking out would certainly put about 2 strikes against you as it would be obvious how you felt about something that was near and dear to your bosses heart. Now the Bill is being touted as a Union sponsored attempt to take away the ability of mine owners to coerce employees to listen to anti-union propaganda from their bosses. In another article published this past week in both Bluefield Daily Telegraph and the Beckley Register Herald that can be read here, Delegate Tim Mile, (D-Harrison) has taken a stand that... While that provided some of the impetus, Delegate Tim Miley, D-Harrison, says his stand was that no such bill would be crafted that solely benefited union organizing.
“We were going to identify those areas that might be sensitive, those areas of speech and communications there might be some sensitivity to, so that we were going to make it hopefully a bill that would address areas of sensitivity and great concern to people,” Miley said Wednesday.
“We just weren’t going to pass something solely for the fact that somebody was mad at Massey Energy or (CEO) Don Blankenship. I’m not into targeting people or retaliation by legislation.”
The old standby of "another unnecessary law" comes forward from those that don't like the idea of protecting worker's rights to not listen to propaganda on political and religious matters. You aren' t protected if the boss says you have to go period! The argument is that workers are already protected under Federal law. Read what Senator Clark Barnes (R-Randolph) the Minority Whip in the State Senate says about this legislation... Barnes wondered why such a law is needed in West Virginia if federal law now bars discrimination at the work site based on race, religion, political beliefs, sexual orientation and other reasons.
“Could this be considered a brand new attack on the constitutional rights of free speech?” he asked. (emphasis mine)
Free Speech??? What a crock... the workplace is not a setting that should be abused by someone who owns a company to proselytize his or hers ideas and beliefs on those who work for their company. The real concern that Barnes and others apparantly have is that the Bill is an outright attack on Massey Energy and their CEO Don Blankenship who have blatently used mandatory meetings to threaten their employees trying to organize in our state. There was a time when worker's rights were protected... those rights have eroded since the Reagan administration, and we desperately need legislation such as the Captive Audience Bill to protect our work force from the abuses of their bosses. It doesn't just apply to union organizing... it applies to every business. I don't work in a business that is typically union, and I along with my fellow employees were required to listen to one point of view at work. The Legislature goes back to work in Charleston next week so let your Delegates and Senators know how you feel on this Bill. All of the House of Delegates is up for reelection in November and so are a lot of Senators. I think they might just listen to you if they want to remain in office. How about it Randolph County? I hear that Clark Barnes is going to have a tough ride in the November election... this might be an issue that can be used to send another Democrat to the Senate to replace Barnes.
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