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Bill 3433

                    Current Status

Bill Number:                      3433
Type of Legislation:              General Bill GB
Introducing Body:                 House
Introduced Date:                  19990203
Primary Sponsor:                  Campsen
All Sponsors:                     Campsen, D. Smith, Davenport, Harrison, 
                                  Sharpe, Altman and Barrett
Drafted Document Number:          l:\council\bills\nbd\11121jm99.doc
Residing Body:                    House
Current Committee:                Labor, Commerce and Industry Committee 26 
                                  HLCI
Subject:                          Workers' Freedom of Conscience Act, 
                                  Labor, Employers and Employees; Labor, 
                                  Licensing and Regulation Department


                        History

Body    Date      Action Description                     Com     Leg Involved
______  ________  ______________________________________ _______ ____________
House   19990203  Introduced, read first time,           26 HLCI
                  referred to Committee


                             Versions of This Bill

TO AMEND CHAPTER 1, TITLE 41, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO LABOR AND EMPLOYMENT, BY ADDING SECTION 41-1-110 SO AS TO ENACT THE "WORKERS' FREEDOM OF CONSCIENCE ACT", INCLUDING PROVISIONS FOR CRIMINAL OFFENSES AND PENALTIES.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:

SECTION 1. Chapter 1, Title 41 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding:

"Section 41-1-110. (A) This section is known as the 'Workers' Freedom of Conscience Act'.

(B) The General Assembly finds and declares that:

(1) The United States Supreme Court's Communications Workers of America v. Beck, 487 U.S. 735, 108 S. Ct. 2641 (1988) decision held that unions cannot use fees collected from nonunion employees, if the employee objects, for activities other than collective bargaining.

(2) However, few union members, as well as few nonunionized workers, are aware of this right, and formal procedures for receiving refunds are not in place.

(3) The integrity of the political process in the State of South Carolina can be maintained only through the voluntary and informed participation of its citizenry. Political contributions which are made without the knowing and informed consent of individuals, made freely without fear of retaliation, penalty, or loss of rights, causes injury to the political process.

(4) Workers have a right to control their own political contributions and a right to refuse to make political contributions without fear of retaliation, penalty, or loss of statutory or other rights.

(5) Taking political contributions from workers without their fully-informed consent violates these workers' rights. Such violations injure the workers, undermine the legitimacy of the political process, and can have a corrupting effect on the electoral and governmental process.

(6) Political contributions taken from workers by deductions from their compensation create a special danger that such contributions are unauthorized and compelled, in violation of the workers' rights. In addition, political contributions by compensation deduction create a special danger of erroneous public perceptions about workers' and employers' political views.

(7) Workers whose political contribution rights have been violated cannot easily stop violations or vindicate their rights, since the amounts involved are usually small and legal proceedings are long, costly, and difficult. Similarly, the State cannot easily combat the public perception of coercion and the loss of public trust and legitimacy caused by violations of workers' political rights.

(8) In enacting this measure, it is the purpose of the General Assembly to protect workers' rights to control their own political contributions, to ensure that workers' political contributions by compensation deduction do not indicate that workers and employers support political activities which they do not, to preserve public trust in the electoral process, and to give workers both the means to prevent the deduction or use of political contributions in violation of these principles and the right to receive compensation for such violations.

(C) As used in this section:

(1) 'Fund' means the separate segregated fund established by a labor organization, or by any business entity of any nature or type whose employees may not be members of a labor organization, for political purposes according to the procedures and requirements of this section.

(2)(a) 'Labor organization' means an association or organization of employees, and an agency, employee representation committee, or plan in which employees participate that exists, in whole or in part, to advocate on behalf of employees about grievances, labor disputes, wages, rates of pay, hours of employment, or conditions of work.

(b) 'Labor organization' includes employee associations and unions for public employees, including both the National Education Association and American Federation of Teachers, and each local education association or affiliate of a national education association.

(D)(1) Except as provided in item (2) of this subsection (D), a labor organization may not expend money for lobbying, electoral, and political activities not bearing upon the ratification or implementation of a collective bargaining agreement. This includes, but is not limited to, independent expenditures or contributions to a candidate, political party, voter registration campaign, or any other political cause.

(2) A labor organization may expend money only for lobbying, electoral, and political activities not bearing upon the ratification or implementation of a collective bargaining agreement if the labor organization establishes a separate segregated fund to be used for political purposes.

(3) The labor organization shall ensure that:

(a) contributions to the fund are solicited independently from other solicitations by the labor organization;

(b) dues or other fees for membership in the labor organization are not used for political purposes, transferred to the segregated fund, or intermingled in any way with fund monies; and

(c) the cost of administering the fund is paid from fund contributions and not from dues or other fees for membership in the labor organization.

(E)(1) It is unlawful for a labor organization to make a contribution by using money or anything of value:

(a) secured by physical force, job discrimination, membership discrimination, or financial reprisals, or threat of force, job discrimination, membership discrimination, or financial reprisals; or

(b) from dues, fees, or other monies required as a condition of membership in a labor organization or as a condition of employment; or

(c) obtained in any commercial transaction.

(2) At the time the labor organization is soliciting money for the fund from an employee, it is unlawful for a labor organization to fail to:

(a) inform an employee of the fund's political purpose; and

(b) inform an employee of the employee's right to refuse to contribute without fear of reprisal; and

(c) inform an employee that none of his compensation can be deducted or withheld for political uses without the written authorization of the employee.

(3) It is unlawful for a labor organization to solicit monies for the fund from any person other than its members and their immediate families.

(4)(a) it is unlawful for a labor organization to pay a member for a contribution to the fund by providing a bonus, expense account, rebate of dues or other membership fees, or any other form of direct or indirect compensation;

(b) it is unlawful for a labor organization to deduct or withhold a worker's compensation for political uses without the written authorization of the worker.

(5) A person violating this section is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, must be punished by a fine of not less than one thousand dollars not more than three thousand dollars for each separate violation.

(6) The provisions of this section are also applicable to business entities of any type or nature whose employees may not be unionized and which entities have procedure in place for obtaining compensation or contributions from their employees for use by a political action committee or a similar entity.

(F) Each fund established by a labor organization under this section shall:

(1) register as a political action committee as required by law; and

(2) file the financial reports for political action committees required by law.

(G)(1) Except as provided in item (4) of this subsection (G), an employee of a person, firm, school district, or private or municipal corporation within this State may sign and deliver to his employer a written instrument directing the employer to:

(a) deduct a specified sum from his monthly wages; and

(b) pay the deduction to a labor organization or union or any other organization of employees as assignee.

(2) An employer who receives a written instrument assigning a specified sum from the employee's wages shall:

(a) keep the instrument on file;

(b) deduct the specified sum from the employee's salary; and

(c) pay the deducted amount to the organization or union designated by the employee.

(3) The employer shall continue to make and pay the deduction as directed by the employee until the employee revokes or modifies the deduction in writing.

(4) Nothing in this section prohibits an individual from making personal contributions to a registered political action committee or to a fund as defined by subsection (C)."

SECTION 2. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.

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