States Advance New ‘Captive Audience’ Bans Amid Court Challenges

Washington and a half dozen other blue states this year are considering banning mandatory meetings to talk workers out of unionizing, building on momentum from Minnesota and New York, which enacted such laws last year.

Washington lawmakers passed a bill (SB 5778) to ban captive audience meetings Feb. 29, teeing it up for Gov. Jay Inslee (D). The governor’s office said he usually doesn’t comment on bills until he’s reviewed the final text, but the Washington State Labor Council said Inslee voiced support for the bill at a Feb. 1 meeting of labor leaders.

Unions ...