Your Right to Peacefully Protest Is In Danger

Your Right To Peacefully Protest Is In Danger Our loyal friends in organized labor have asked us to forward the below message to you. Please protect the rights of all Georgians by calling or emailing your State House Representative today!--------------------------------------------------------- YOUR RIGHT TO PEACEABLY PROTESTIS THREATENED BY THE ANTI-WORKING FAMILY AGENDAOF SOME GEORGIA LEGISLATORS! SB 469 was passed in the Georgia Senate last week. This Bill is a threat to the right to peacefully protest and to union membership. We need your help to prevent the House from passing the legislation and the Governor from signing it into law. PLEASE ACT NOW! Here’s what you can do: Join the protest rally! All Georgia citizens should attend! Sat. March 17 at 11:00 A.M. Georgia Capitol Attend Lobby day! On Mon. March 19 10:00 A.M. at the Georgia Capitol Call, fax, email or visit your State Representative NOW!The General Assembly is meeting today and March 19-22, and Representatives are home Mar 15-18 and 23-25.Visit your elected representative at the Capitol and/or on their home turf.Make a call, fax or email. Click here to identify your State House member and get their contact information. Be clear but don’t threaten. Build your relationship. Use the information below to encourage them to vote NO on SB 469. Click here to find out how your Senator voted. Thank the good lawmakers for standing up for us!Phone and email the Speaker of the House at david.ralston@house.ga.gov or (404)656-5020 Message: Please vote NO on SB 469 to protect the peaceful right to protest and to protect Georgia’s working families. SB 469 hurts school personnel, bus drivers, public employees and working families across Georgia. It unconstitutionally stifles legal peaceful protest for churches, civic associations, fraternities, and other groups, as well as labor unions. SB 469 oversteps the authority of the state to regulate in areas controlled by the National Labor Relations Act. It would punish both conspiracy to commit criminal trespass and the crime itself – unlike any other provision of Georgia criminal law. It also makes the penalty for conspiracy higher than for criminal trespass – unlike any other provision of Georgia criminal law. SB 469 violates the First Amendment right to lawfully and peacefully protest in many settings.· The purpose of this Bill is to stifle lawful picketing.· It would criminalize behavior of a union or group based solely on an individual’s “affiliation” with the group, even if they are not acting as an agent for the group.· The right to peacefully protest cannot be limited based on the content of the speech nor by an unlimited right to “quiet enjoyment” in neighborhoods.SB 469 creates special exceptions to criminal law to penalize peaceful picketing.· SSB 469 lowers the necessary showing for issuance of an injunction required for every other kind of injunction under Georgia law.· SB 469 sets daily penalties of $1,000 for an individual or $10,000 for an organization without allowing court discretion and lets the employer collect the fines as damages.· It departs from all other provisions of Georgia criminal law by allowing conviction of both criminal trespass and conspiracy to commit criminal trespass.· SB 469 creates a higher criminal penalty for conspiracy to commit criminal trespass than for the completed crime of criminal trespass – unlike any other Georgia crime.SB 469 interferes with federal labor law that already requires notice of employee rights not to join a union, to report illegal union activity, etc.· SB 469 oversteps its authority regarding employer messages regarding de-certification of unions under federal law.· SB 469 charges the State DOL to enforce the law against employers – responsibilities regarding enforcement of federal law beyond its jurisdiction.· Georgia is already a “right to work” state and prohibits requiring union membership as a condition of employment. This Bill just adds an unnecessary duty on employers to distribute an anti-union message, and wastes taxpayer dollars by imposing an unfunded obligation on the State Department of Labor to enforce it. SB 469 violates federal law governing employee rights to dues check off.· Federal labor law takes precedence over Georgia law in governing the rules for union dues check off and revocation. This Bill illegally interferes in that realm that is controlled by federal law.· This Bill draws lines between different worker groups based solely on whether they engage in collective bargaining – a right protected under federal law. Law enforcement officers say this Bill would waste limited public safety resources and put people in jail who should not be there – wasting taxpayer dollars. 10,000 Georgians have signed petitions saying they strongly oppose SB 469. Click here to identify your State House member and get their contact information. Be clear but don’t threaten. Build your relationship. Encourage your State House Representative to OPPOSE SB 469. Homepage Contribute FacebookYou have received this email through your subscription to our email list. If you did not subscribe, or would no longer like to receive email updates unsubscribe here.DEMOCRATIC PARTY OF GEORGIA • 763 TRABERT AVE NW • ATLANTA, GEORGIA 30318MIKE BERLON, CHAIR; NIKEMA WILLIAMS, FIRST VICE-CHAIR; RUSSELL EDWARDS, TREASURER; R.J. HADLEY, VICE CHAIR; MIGUEL CAMACHO, VICE CHAIR; REP. PEDRO “PETE” MARIN, VICE CHAIR; LAVERNE GASKINS, SECRETARY NOT AUTHORIZED BY ANY CANDIDATE OR CANDIDATE’S COMMITTEE • WWW.GEORGIADEMOCRAT.ORG -- "When crazy people call you crazy, you know you're sane. When evil people call you evil, you know that you are a good person. When lairs call you a liar, you know that you are truthful. Know who you are and don't let others tell you who you are." - Dave Kitchen