California Law Banning Mandatory Anti-Union Meetings Challenged

A new California law that bars employers from requiring workers to attend anti-union meetings or other gatherings on political or religious topics is unconstitutional, the state Chamber of Commerce argued in a federal lawsuit.

The law banning “captive audience” meetings runs afoul of the First and 14th amendments, as well as the National Labor Relations Act, and its flaws “are magnified by the statute’s vagueness and extreme breadth,” according to the lawsuit filed Tuesday in the US District Court for the Eastern District of California.

“California has taken the extraordinary step of enacting legislation that imposes sanctions on employers who ...