North Carolina General Assembly (File Photo)
The North Carolina Senate Judiciary Committee advanced a bill Tuesday morning imposing civil penalties on workers and protesters who conduct “mass pickets” that are deemed obstructive or violent by a court of law.
The proposal, Senate Bill 484, would allow employers to obtain an injunction and temporary restraining order against anyone who protests at their place of business to the extent of “hindering or preventing” work, using threats or force, or blocking workplace entrances, exits, or public roads and streets. It amends an existing law that centers on protecting employees from harassment, stalking, and violence.
Among the forms of relief available to judges in the bill are no-contact orders and prohibitions on visiting the workplace, punishable as contempt of court, which would open violators to fines and jail time.
“What Senate Bill 484 strives to achieve is a balance between those who want to peacefully protest and those who actually want to go to work and earn a living uninhibited by those that are protesting,” said Sen. Tim Moffitt (R-Henderson), a primary sponsor of the bill.
The bill comes amid a flurry of labor activity around the state as union efforts has risen in recent years, with the number of union election petitions nationally doubling from 2021 in the most recent fiscal year. In February, North Carolina saw a high-profile union election at Garner’s Amazon warehouse that spurred protest events from labor activists, though demonstrators gathered across the street from the warehouse rather than near any entrances or exits.
In an interview after the committee vote, Duke professor and labor organizer Orin Starn said he feels the bill aims to “discourage workplace demonstrations and picketing” regardless of the conduct of protesters.
Garner Police vehicles idle outside the Garner Amazon warehouse as union organizers rally across the street. (Photo: Brandon Kingdollar/NC Newsline)A participant in the efforts to unionize the Amazon warehouse, Starn said employers already have “plenty of protections” when it comes to protests on their property. He noted that some members of the Amazon union campaign were arrested for trespassing by Garner police when they tried to collect union cards and give out food on the premises.
“This bill seems very much about weaponizing the law to keep workers from organizing,” Starn said. “Workers are already afraid of retaliation because there are minimal protections right now for workers who are trying to organize.”
Sen. Terence Everitt (D-Wake) asked whether protests at Tesla dealerships — which have drawn large crowds around the country as demonstrators have denounced CEO Elon Musk’s actions in the Trump administration — would be permitted by the bill so long as they remain peaceful and do not include threats or obstruction. Moffitt confirmed they would be.
Sen. Mujtaba Mohammed (D-Mecklenburg) proposed two amendments seeking to clarify the scope of the bill, aiming to avoid any prohibitions on federally protected labor activity. The first defines obstruction as a “sustained or deliberate physical blockage” that disrupts operations or public safety, and the second excludes from the bill any peaceful demonstrations, informational pickets, or protected labor activity — provided they do not rise to the level of violence, threats, or obstruction.
Both amendments passed, though Sen. Lisa Grafstein (D-Wake) said she still held concerns that workers may be intimidated from participating in labor protests by the messaging around the bill.
“We have a lot of efforts underway to protect employee rights, and I think it’s important that they not be limited or people be intimidated from participating in those,” Grafstein said. “I believe there are some aspects of this bill that could continue to intimidate people from engaging in peaceful protests.”
The bill is will proceed to a vote before the Senate Rules Committee, where it could then be scheduled for a hearing on the Senate floor.
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