Tennessee's Amendment 1 would add right-to-work to state's constitution, unions oppose it

Tennesseans will have the opportunity to cement a right-to-work law into the state constitution at the ballot box in November, a move touted by pro-business leaders but adamantly opposed by organized labor unions.

The state's right-to-work law allows employees to opt out of joining a union and paying the dues even if the workforce is unionized.

Tennessee's major unions are against Amendment 1 and criticized the right-to-work law for creating a "free-loader situation."

"It makes unions the only entity that has to provide services to people who did not pay for them," said Jason Freeman, the political director with Service Employees International Union Local 205 based in Nashville.

"A majority of workers in a place can choose to unionize, and then the people who have not joined are entitled to the benefits and services their co-workers are paying for, while they are not."

Supporters of the amendment believe the right-to-work law bolsters Tennessee's business-friendly economic climate and provides workers with a choice.

"Through unions, employees can be forced to join something that they disagree with," said Justin Owen, the president of the Beacon Center of Tennessee, a conservative think tank. "That violates their freedom of association and should ultimately be left up to the individual.

Owen is on the executive committee of the "Yes on 1" campaign, which is advocating for voters to approve the right-to-work amendment. Members of that committee include Gov. Bill Lee, former Gov. Bill Haslam, the Tennessee Chamber of Commerce president and other prominent elected Republicans throughout the state.

Tennessee has a complicated constitutional amendment process. For Amendment 1 to pass, it must receive more yes votes than no votes. In addition, the number of yes votes must also be greater than 50% of all the votes cast in the governor's election.

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Why put it in the state constitution now?

A right-to-work law has existed in Tennessee since 1947. If the amendment fails, it will still be law in the state.

But the state's GOP and business leaders are concerned about what would happen if Tennessee's political power shifts to the Democrats or the U.S. Congress passes the Protecting the Right to Organize, or PRO, Act.

The PRO Act, a labor-friendly bill introduced by Democrats, would nullify right-to-work laws, among other provisions. It passed the U.S House with Democratic support in 2019 and 2021. It hasn't advanced in the U.S. Senate's because of the filibuster, which requires 60 votes for most bills to pass.

The push for the amendment also comes during a time of resurgence of unions following the COVID-19 pandemic. At 5.2%, Tennessee has one of the lowest percentages of unionized workers in the country, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

But union participation is on the rise in Tennessee and across the country, most notably at companies like Starbucks and Amazon.

Starbucks locations in Knoxville and Memphis voted to unionize earlier this summer. In Memphis, Starbucks tried to fire the employees organizing the union, but a federal judge required the company to rehire them.

In Mt. Juliet, organizers are undergoing efforts to unionize a distribution warehouse for Amazon. A vote to unionize has not taken place yet.

During the state Senate's debate over approving the amendment for the ballot in 2020, state Sen. Brian Kelsey, R-Germantown, who sponsored the legislation, said Tennessee needed to put the law into its constitution to protect it from repeal in the future.

Arkansas, Mississippi and Alabama have already embedded the law in their state constitutions.

Putting it in the state constitution could nullify the PRO Act depending on how future courts rule and make it harder for Democrats to repeal it if they regain control of the state legislative chambers.

The threshold to get an amendment on the ballot is high. It must pass with a two-thirds majority in the state House and Senate. Right now, Republicans have a greater than two-thirds majority in both chambers.

"It would take an act of God to undo a constitutional amendment," said Sen. Raumesh Akbari, D-Nashville, in 2020. "If the legislature changes, it's tying their hands, so they have to go through a much more arduous process to change it."

Adam Friedman is The Tennessean's state government and politics reporter. Reach him by email at afriedman@tennessean.com.

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This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Tennessee Amendment 1 would add right-to-work to state constitution