Workers Have a Right to Hear From their Employers about the Impact of Unionization

A New I4AW Report Examines the Constitutionality of Employee Meetings on Unionization (EMU)

HAMILTON (February 12, 2025) – A new report released today by Institute for the American Worker (I4AW) argues that workers have a right to hear from their employers and employers have a free speech right to inform their workers about the impact of unionization at paid staff meetings.  This is despite an unconstitutional National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) decision last year that held that such meetings violate the National Labor Relations Act.

I4AW’s report, titled “Free Speech Under Fire: How Restricting Employee Meetings on Unionization Prevents Workers from Making Informed Decisions” provides a point by point rebuttal of the NLRB’s flawed claims as to why, in Amazon.com Services LLC, the NLRB incorrectly overruled its 1948 decision in Babcock & Wilcox Co., and held that an employer cannot compel employees to attend a “captive audience meeting.”

So-called “captive audience meetings”— which are more properly called “employer meetings on unionization” (EMU) — are held by businesses to give information to their employees on unionization. Workers are required to attend, like any other staff meeting, and the employer discusses the effects of unionization just as they would for any number of other serious workplace matters. Employers are legally prohibited from threatening, interrogating, or promising anything to workers during these meetings. Workers are also paid for their time, since the meetings happen during the workday.

“Employer Meetings on Unionization are essential to free and fair unionization campaigns,” said the report’s author, James A. Prozzi, who has been the Adjunct Professor of Law at Stetson University College of Law since 2019, where he teaches employment law. “They are the primary means for businesses to provide workers with their perspective, ensuring workers can make the most informed decision.”

The meetings are also broadly supported by the American public. Polling by the Institute for the American Worker shows that only 12% of likely voter have a negative view of employer meetings on unionization. By contrast, 84% have a neutral or positive view. Americans broadly understand that employers have a right to talk to workers about unionization.

“A future NLRB, with the current vacancies filled by new members appointed by President Trump, could reverse the faulty Biden-era decision,” said F. Vincent Vernuccio, president of Institute for the American Worker. “The constitutional rights of both employers and workers alike hang in the balance.”

Click here to read the full report.

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Institute for the American Worker is a non-profit 501c3 organization that educates policymakers on complex labor legislation and offers policy solutions that benefit the American worker.