Oregon Measure 119 permanently enjoined, would have unlawfully required cannabis employers to remain neutral towards unions

[Safiel]

Oregon's voter-approved pot labor law is unconstitutional, federal judge rules

A federal judge in Oregon has ruled that a voter-approved measure regarding cannabis labor agreements is unconstitutional.

www.newsday.com

Oregon Measure 119 would have forced cannabis employers into entering into a so-called "labor peace agreement" as a condition of license renewal. Essentially a forced surrender to the union, as the company would be silenced from any speech against the union and would have to adhere to a neutrality agreement and "card check" which removes the right both of the company AND the proposed bargaining unit to a secret ballot election certifying the union. With card check, the union knows who has signed cards and who hasn't and can bully, threaten and essentially compel workers to sign. With a secret ballot election, while workers might be bullied into signing a card, once in the NLRB voting booth, neither the company nor the union knows how an employee voted, allowing an employee to make the decision according to their own conscience and not under any potential threat.

The court found that the measure was unconstitutional on two grounds. 1. It violated the free speech right of employers. 2. It is preempted by Federal labor law.

The court was abundantly correct on both points and rightly struck down the measure.

Employees are still free to unionize, but employers are free to speak and workers retain their sacred right to decide unionization in a secret NLRB voting booth.

 

[phoenix2020]

I am hard-pressed to understand how a wholesale muffling of a business like this is defensible.

 

[Safiel]

I am hard-pressed to understand how a wholesale muffling of a business like this is defensible.

The voters didn't really think this through when they voted this one in. And most probably didn't understand exactly what it does.

 

[Bullseye]

I am hard-pressed to understand how a wholesale muffling of a business like this is defensible.

Oregon liberal looniness.

 

[phoenix2020]

The voters didn't really think this through when they voted this one in. And most probably didn't understand exactly what it does.

I can’t speak for Oregon but here in California, each cycle often has two dozen or more propositions and the electorate gets absolutely flooded with flyers and ads attempting to reduce each one to simple and often highly misleading slogans. I would not be surprised if many of these initiatives win on the strength of whichever side had the best pictures, fonts and slogans on the flyers that mailboxes are inundated with. I have to spend 4-8 hours each cycle trying to figure out the actual ground truth for each measure in order to decide how I will vote for them. Most voters aren’t going to bother making anywhere near that kind of effort.

 

[dmpi]

It's bad enough when you're employed in a 'closed shop' when employment is contingent on joining the union. But this is taking it up to the next level where employers are required to be unionized in order to get and maintain their business license. It's no surprise this is coming out of liberal Oregon.

 

[aociswundumho]

State lawyers who defended the measure had argued that the measure didn't curb speech because employers can still express opinions about unions as long as they're neutral, The Oregonian/OregonLive reported.

You've got to be very left wing to say something like that and mean it.

 

[btthegreat]

Oregon's voter-approved pot labor law is unconstitutional, federal judge rules

A federal judge in Oregon has ruled that a voter-approved measure regarding cannabis labor agreements is unconstitutional.

www.newsday.com

Oregon Measure 119 would have forced cannabis employers into entering into a so-called "labor peace agreement" as a condition of license renewal. Essentially a forced surrender to the union, as the company would be silenced from any speech against the union and would have to adhere to a neutrality agreement and "card check" which removes the right both of the company AND the proposed bargaining unit to a secret ballot election certifying the union. With card check, the union knows who has signed cards and who hasn't and can bully, threaten and essentially compel workers to sign. With a secret ballot election, while workers might be bullied into signing a card, once in the NLRB voting booth, neither the company nor the union knows how an employee voted, allowing an employee to make the decision according to their own conscience and not under any potential threat.

The court found that the measure was unconstitutional on two grounds. 1. It violated the free speech right of employers. 2. It is preempted by Federal labor law.

The court was abundantly correct on both points and rightly struck down the measure.

Employees are still free to unionize, but employers are free to speak and workers retain their sacred right to decide unionization in a secret NLRB voting booth.

Well. Someone else saw the exact problems I saw when I voted 'NO' I kept telling my progressive friends, that this is NOT about whether employees vote for or against a union. Its about whether those employees get to hear their employer's opinion first. Whether their employers get to plead their case to their own staff before the vote.

I don't want to vote on whether I should or should not unionize, after only hearing the Union talk. I want to hear both sides of the story. This is a pro worker decision, even if it is not a pro union decision! Free speech is not about the person talking, its about access of the listener to multiple views of the truth.

I gotta say what I saw in the Oregon Voter's Manual about this bill with respect to the statements pro and con, really smelled of political deal-making and arm-twisting by the Union. I have a nose for this sort of thing, and all was not kosher. To quote Judge Judy 'if it doesn't make sense, its probably not true'.

 

[btthegreat]

The voters didn't really think this through when they voted this one in. And most probably didn't understand exactly what it does.

If you saw the Oregon Voter's Pamplet, you would notice that there were virtually no arguments presented against this measure, even from the industry impacted. Oregonians were only presented one side in the document they most trust when they vote.

It smelled very fishy. I had to really think hard to figure it out and its about which side the Pot industry's bread gets buttered in Oregon, and by whom.

I think there the Union did some major arm-twisting on the industry, about not opposing this measure, if they wanted to count on Union support later on.

 

[Hamish Howl]

Oregon liberal looniness.

Ever been in Oregon outside of Portland?

Those are your people.

 

[btthegreat]

Ever been in Oregon outside of Portland?

Those are your people.

And a lot of the cities nearby Portland, and certainly Eugene/Springfield, and Corvallis. There are a lot of pockets of liberalism throughout the Willamette Valley, but the rest of the state either direction is ruby red.

 

[Hamish Howl]

And a lot of the cities nearby Portland, and certainly Eugene/Springfield, and Corvallis. There are a lot of pockets of liberalism throughout the Willamette Valley, but the rest of the state either direction is ruby red.

I got lost driving in Oregon once.

It was sort of a "The Hills Have Eyes" moment.

 

[Jessie C]

I'm 35 miles from Ontario Oregon where pot is legal. LEGAL!!!! I'm from Georgia, where it's barely legal in ONE county- Fulton, and even then if you have one gram over the "allowed" amount, you go down for trafficking. I love the west coast......

 

[Bullseye]

Ever been in Oregon outside of Portland?

Those are your people.

Yeah, I've been up and down the coast, centeral Oregon, down the eastern side by train and automobile. And, yes, I HAVE spend a few days in Portland

 

[Hamish Howl]

Yeah, I've been up and down the coast, centeral Oregon, down the eastern side by train and automobile. And, yes, I HAVE spend a few days in Portland

Portland is not really part of Oregon. It's just this moldy bit stuck on the end.

Oregon as a whole is a collection of right wing bumpkins.

 

[Jessie C]

Portland is not really part of Oregon. It's just this moldy bit stuck on the end.

Oregon as a whole is a collection of right wing bumpkins.

Wait...what??? I'm new to the west coast, and Oregon is pot legal...something not allowed much on the east coast. By the way, when I said earlier Fulton county had legal pot, that's not exactly true....the tiny city of Atlanta has an exception to pot, only because they have NO way of controlling it....the sticker is the city of Altlanta is only a small part of Fulton County and makes up less than 10 percent of the state, and much of "Atlanta" is in Dekalb county where it is not legal.

Stop bursting my bubble.....

 

[btthegreat]

I'm 35 miles from Ontario Oregon where pot is legal. LEGAL!!!! I'm from Georgia, where it's barely legal in ONE county- Fulton, and even then if you have one gram over the "allowed" amount, you go down for trafficking. I love the west coast......

I was trying to figure out why the political arm of the pot industry was not coming out strongly against this, but when you understand the role unions play in left of center politics in our state ( the big brother/bodyguard with the money, connections, and clout to protect its allies) , and the problems this nascent industry has with so many attacks coming at it from so many different directions from municipalities trying to contain it through zoning, fierce opposition from social conservatives, Law enforcement lobbying for more regulation, and local and state govt trying to tax it more. Nobody in Oregon needs a loyal bodyguard more than the pot shops!

Now unions can come to the aid of the littlest wimp of a kid in the playground, or unions can stand by and watch while everyone bullies them, beats the crap out of them or steals their lunch money! The pot industry definitely needs unqualified Union support. Whispers of anti-union behavior will undermine and divide its own political base of support among the left of center coalition. It cannot afford this fight.

 

[Hamish Howl]

Wait...what??? I'm new to the west coast, and Oregon is pot legal...

Telling ya, right wing nutjobs that make Idaho look sane.

Just because they like smoking pot doesn't mean they're liberals. Arizona smells like a hippie's station wagon, and it's more than half red. Crazy red at that.

 

[Jessie C]

I was trying to figure out why the political arm of the pot industry was not coming out strongly against this, but when you understand the role unions play in left of center politics in our state ( the big brother/bodyguard with the money, connections, and clout to protect its allies) , and the problems this nascent industry has with so many attacks coming at it from so many different directions from municipalities trying to contain it through zoning, fierce opposition from social conservatives, Law enforcement lobbying for more regulation, and local and state govt trying to tax it more. Nobody in Oregon needs a loyal bodyguard more than the pot shops!

Now unions can come to the aid of the littlest wimp of a kid in the playground, or unions can stand by and watch while everyone bullies them, beats the crap out of them or steals their lunch money! The pot industry definitely needs unqualified Union support. Whispers of anti-union behavior will undermine and divide its own political base of support among the left of center coalition. It cannot afford this fight.

I had NO idea there were so many issues around this issue....It's weird, I originated in steel country PA where unions were a given and widely accepted for their ability to protect the workers....this here is new and foreign to me....all I know in the 6 weeks I've been here in Idaho is many eastern Oregon counties want to become part of deep red Idaho and Idaho doesn't want them! Funny thing this, since I've been here, I've met lots of folks, and not one of them is a trump supporter, if anything, just the opposite...very good!!!

 

[Jessie C]

Telling ya, right wing nutjobs that make Idaho look sane.

Just because they like smoking pot doesn't mean they're liberals. Arizona smells like a hippie's station wagon, and it's more than half red. Crazy red at that.

A hippy's station wagon???? Yeah I remember that!!!! FONDLY!

 

[btthegreat]

I had NO idea there were so many issues around this issue....It's weird, I originated in steel country PA where unions were a given and widely accepted for their ability to protect the workers....this here is new and foreign to me....all I know in the 6 weeks I've been here in Idaho is many eastern Oregon counties want to become part of deep red Idaho and Idaho doesn't want them! Funny thing this, since I've been here, I've met lots of folks, and not one of them is a trump supporter, if anything, just the opposite...very good!!!

Pot shops are still relatively new, and they still make a lot of people nervous. Pot shops make money and they make a lot of govts greedy.

 

[dmpi]

OR unions are so powerful they were the last state in the nation that wouldn't let you pump your own gas.

 

[Terryj]

Oregon kinda funny when it comes to voting, the majority of Oregon voters are non-affiliated. The majority of the Democrate voters are in the 6 counties that make up the Northwest area of the state. I would say that the majority of Republican and the Independent voters are moderate.
The parties break down like this:
From the 024 election
Democrat voters 1,012,259
Repbulican voters 735,355
Non-Affiliated 1,101,862
Independent 148,933

 

[Jessie C]

Pot shops are still relatively new, and they still make a lot of people nervous. Pot shops make money and they make a lot of govts greedy.

I think it's wild that "blue" Oregon has counties that want to merge with deep red Idaho counties, who don't want them here...like I said, I have yet to see anything "deep red" here in SW Idaho. I have no clue about the northern counties that support the magat debacle.....

 

[Jessie C]

Oregon kinda funny when it comes to voting, the majority of Oregon voters are non-affiliated. The majority of the Democrate voters are in the 6 counties that make up the Northwest area of the state. I would say that the majority of Republican and the Independent voters are moderate.
The parties break down like this:
From the 024 election
Democrat voters 1,012,259
Repbulican voters 735,355
Non-Affiliated 1,101,862
Independent 148,933

Thanks for that info, Terryj! If you add the non-affiliated and independant voters to non republican, it speaks for itself!