NASHVILLE – State senators gave nods Monday to proposed Tennessee constitutional amendments that, if agreed to by the House, would put before voters next November decisions over whether to enshrine the state’s current “right to work” law in the Tennessee Constitution along with a second amendment effectively giving legislators veto power over who gets appointed state attorney general.
The Senate’s GOP supermajority voted 23-7 on the proposed “right to work” amendment, Senate Joint Resolution 2, setting it up for a later vote in the Republican-controlled House, where it is expected to pass. The provision of law bars employers from requiring union membership as a condition of employment.
Sen. Todd Gardenhire, R-Chattanooga, who has sometimes sided with labor unions, was the lone Republican to vote no.
Tennessee’s law, enacted in 1947, bars efforts to deny or seek to deny employment to any person by reason of the person’s membership in, affiliation with, resignation from or refusal to join or affiliate with any labor union or employee organization of any kind.
“I’ve witnessed first hand what an advantage we have with this law on the books,” Sen. Brian Kelsey, R-Germantown, told colleagues, later adding that businesses considering locating in Tennessee “look very much at whether our state is one of right to work.”