Labor leaders believe Georgia's growth, emerging EV sector, a good sign for unions

National AFL-CIO Secretary Treasurer Fred Redmond believes the Peach State is politically ripe for more growth in unions and more protections for workers.

"Well here in the state of Georgia we have what we think is one of the best slates of candidates, particularly in the South, from the top to the bottom," Redmond told the USA Today network following a Labor Day speaking engagement in Atlanta. "We're feeling a lot of energy in Georgia. We think with what's happening in Georgia, particularly in the retail sector ... this is, you know, the place for me to be."

The percentage of workers in Georgia belonging to a union ticked up slightly between 2020 and 2021, from 4.6% to 4.8%. That's well below the national rate of 10.3%. Redmond visited Georgia for Labor Day because he believes opportunities exist to close the gap.

"Brothers and sisters, I am so happy to be here with you this afternoon, because we know, in the labor movement, that everything we are fighting for, everything we are working for, comes through Georgia," he said in a speech at UAW Hall.

Charlie Fleming, the state president of the AFL-CIO, agreed.

"This is one of the fastest growing states in the country, and I think that's a good thing and a bad thing," Fleming told the USA Today Network. "The bad thing is that our percentage hasn't really gone up. ... The good thing is that more and more people have been moving into this state that have actually had unions, are familiar with unions."

New sectors for organizing unions

Electric vehicle manufacturing is coming to Georgia — Hyundai outside of Savannah, Rivian outside of Atlanta, and SK Battery in Commerce. Redmond and Fleming hope the industry will also grow in its unionized workforce, although there are no specific organizing pushes yet.

"We're watching it very closely, you know, to see how things materialize, so we'll keep an eye on it," Redmond said. "We don't have any specific campaigns that we've identified or that we can talk about at this point, but it's a growing industry."

Fleming thinks that the need for skilled workers will draw more union workers in, and said the IBEW, the union for electrical workers, expects to add 300,000 members nationwide by the end of the decade.

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"This is a new industry, and any new industry is going to want to have the most qualified, the most educated, trained people to build these plants. Plus, you want good skilled labor," Fleming said. "And that's what the labor movement does. We have the best training facilities, bar none, when it comes to our trades."

Sectors of the auto manufacturing sector have been unionized for decades, but Redmond is also quick to point out the push in service workers looking to unionize, including a massive campaign among Starbucks workers.

"I think one of the pushes behind it is that this is an industry that is comprised by a lot of young people," Redmond said. "(It's) just something we haven't seen, this sort of energy in the labor movement, in quite a while. And the amazing thing about this in terms of the service industry, it's not all about wages, you know."

Instead, Redmond said, workers are asking for better paid time off, having a say in shift scheduling, childcare assistance, and health and safety.

Labor, politics and campaign season

Candidates running with the backing of labor used the Atlanta event to make their pitches.

"We're going to grow jobs here in Georgia by investing in the people of Georgia through apprenticeships in the state of Georgia," Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams told the crowd.

Sen. Raphael Warnock spoke both at the Atlanta Labor Day event and last week in Augusta with a group of labor leaders.

"I always consider it to be an honor to be among workers of heart and soul," Warnock said during this campaign stop in Augusta. "Over time there has been an unfortunate devaluing in our country of people who make things."

Mostly, though, Warnock fielded questions from labor leaders about federal action on labor priorities.

Melanie Silverstein, a political representative from the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades, asked about ensuring employees are not incorrectly identified as contractors, and thus shut out from benefits. Glen Kelly Jr., president of the International Union of Bricklayers Local 8 Southeast, asked about Warnock's support for nuclear power; many of his craftsmen found work at Plant Vogtle. Benyoel Morgan, president of the Transportation Workers Union of America, asked about how to prepare for a future of electric busses and autonomous vehicles.

"I don't think they'll be any shortage of jobs," Warnock replied, but said that education systems have been slow to make adjustments.

He told the USA Today network afterwards that he would like to see unionization efforts in Georgia's expanding fields of electric vehicle and solar manufacturing.

"I think that the work that we did this congress is helpful to workers, like the bipartisan infrastructure bill," he said. "And there is language in those bills that protects those workers."

A right to organize

The main goal of labor and labor endorsed elected officials remains the passage of the Protecting the Right to Organize, or PRO Act.

It would, among other things, repeal right-to-work laws which allow workers in unionized businesses to opt out of union membership and dues, even if they are represented by a union contract. It would also limit a business' ability to counter union campaigns, such as mandating anti-union meetings, and enforce monetary penalties against companies that break labor law.

Warnock is a vocal supporter of the law, which failed to even make it to a vote in the Senate last year. Georgia Rep. Rick Allen, R-Augusta, has introduced legislation directly aimed at countering the PRO Act. Georgia Reps. Austin Scott, Barry Loudermilk and Buddy Carter are co-sponsors.

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"We haven't given up on the PRO Act. I want to make that clear," Redmond said. "... Our main objective is to pass the PRO Act, but like I said, if we could get to legislation that allowed workers to organize without any sort of reprisal or without fear of losing their jobs, that's our goal."

Fleming said that Georgia did pass legislation last session that clarified some aspects of the independent contractor and employee issue, but that it was just a start.

"That's one of the biggest things, I think, is the misclassification of workers, especially in the gig economy," he said. "These people are told where to be, when to be there, what uniform to wear, and yet they're independent. It doesn't make sense, doesn't add up."

This article originally appeared on Augusta Chronicle: Union leaders talk future of organized labor in Georgia