Blue States Line Up To Ban Anti-Union ‘Captive Audience’ Meetings

Illinois is about to become the latest state to bar employers from pressuring workers with anti-union talk. But legal challenges lie ahead for these laws.

A growing number of states are moving to bar employers from holding mandatory anti-union meetings at work, a move labor advocates hope will give employees more confidence to vote “union yes.”

Illinois is poised to become the eighth state to enact such a ban after the legislature passed a bill outlawing employers from holding mandatory meetings of a political or religious nature.

Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker plans to sign the legislation by the end of this month, a spokesperson told HuffPost.

That would add Illinois to a list that already includes Connecticut, Maine, Minnesota, New York, Oregon, New Jersey and Washington.

Meanwhile, at least another 10 states are considering passing similar legislation, potentially covering more than 60 million workers around the country, according to the Economic Policy Institute, a left-leaning think tank.