A document restricting unionization in state-subsidized firms has been sent to the governor for his consideration.

A bill aimed at restricting new unions is ready to be signed by Governor Brian Kemp after the state House of Representatives passed it along party lines on Wednesday.

The U.S. Senate Bill 362, introduced by Branson Republican Senator Mike Hodges, will prevent new companies moving to Georgia from receiving state incentives if they agree to allow workers to form a union without a secret ballot.

Another common way to unionize, which the bill seeks to avoid, is the so-called card check. This is a less formal method and involves collecting employees' signatures, usually on cards.

According to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, only 5.4% of workers in Georgia were union members in 2022, which is down from the previous year (5.8%) and lower than in six other states. The bill will not affect any of these states, only new businesses moving to the state.

Governor Kemp advocated for this measure at the beginning of the current session, promising to "never give in to activists seeking to attack job creators and undermine the countless opportunities they create in communities across Georgia."

Speaking at the House of Representatives session on Wednesday, one of Kemp's leaders, Republican Representative Su Hong from Lawrenceville, stated that the bill would not hinder workers from forming unions.

“This bill concerns the use of state economic developments. It is not a regulatory action,” she said. “We are indicating what happens with our tax benefits.

“We ensure that when the government invests public resources in creating jobs, the workers employed in those positions have the opportunity to decide whether they want to be represented by a labor union,” she added.

Unions and their supporters argue that secret voting seems like a good idea, but card check is a fairer way to make a decision. This is because they believe that secret voting allows employers to pressure workers using tactics such as spending large amounts of money on outside groups to hold mandatory meetings where the drawbacks of unions can be discussed.

A representative from Danwood of the Democratic Party, Long Tran, stated that the bill would discredit unions, such as the one that, according to him, changed his family's life after their immigration from Vietnam.

"My father eventually got a job on the assembly line at GM. He became a union worker," he said. "This allowed him to go to college, become a mechanical engineer, and advance his career at General Motors, where he worked for over 30 years. There’s no doubt that the middle class my family lived in helped create a doctor out of my sister, a lawyer out of my brother, and an accountant out of my other brother, as well as a coffee shop owner and a politician here today—all thanks to the opportunities provided by the American Dream supported by the middle class."

“We cannot ignore what created the middle class here in America – it’s the unions,” he added. “And I can’t believe that today we are forced to argue about whether the government should pick winners in business. As a small business owner, I should have the final say in how I manage labor relations and the workforce in my business.”