The General Assembly has passed a measure to protect secret balloting for workers in elections for union representation. The House and Senate moved the bill through this week and it will be on the statewide ballot in the next general election.
Pickens Senator Larry Martin says if this measure becomes a constitutional amendment it will send a strong economic development message. “The movement at the federal level to adopt the Employee Free Choice legislation–though it appears to have diminished somewhat since we started this effort last year–that bill is still pending and we felt like we need to move forward and send the strongest message possible that this is the way we want union elections conducted in South Carolina,” Martin says.
The bill was filibustered for days by Orangeburg Senator Brad Hutto, who says the state cannot supercede federal labor laws. Senator Martin took Hutto to task often during his filibuster.
(Listen to debate between Hutto and Martin MP3 :54)
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