En Banc 9th Circuit Upholds California State Law That Prohibits Employers From Using State Funds for Anti-Union Purposes

Via Howard Bashman at How Appealing this past Friday:

"Appeals court restores law favorable to labor": [Friday] in The San Francisco Chronicle, Bob Egelko has an article that begins, "An appeals court reinstated a labor-backed law Thursday that prohibits California employers from spending money they get from the state on anti-union activities. In a 12-3 ruling, the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco said the law does not violate employers' freedom of speech or interfere with federal regulation of labor-management relations."

Howard provides a link to 9th Circuit's en banc ruling in Chamber of Commerce of the United States v. California Labor Federation, AFL-CIO, 03-55166 (9th Cir., 9/21/06) at this link.

Here's the first paragraph of the opinion:

The question before us is whether a state’s exercise of its sovereign power to control the use of its funds conflicts with national labor policy as expressed in the National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA”), 29 U.S.C. §§ 151-169. Specifically, two provisions in a California statute forbid employers who receive state grant or program funds in excess of $10,000
from using those funds to assist, promote or deter union organizing. We hold that California’s grant and program fund restrictions do not undermine federal labor policy, are not preempted by the NLRA and do not violate the First Amendment.

PS