Constitutional Amendment 1 - Right to Work Amendment

Summary

This amendment would add a new section to Article XI of the Tennessee Constitution to make it illegal for any person, corporation, association, or the State of Tennessee or its political subdivisions to deny or attempt to deny employment to any person because of the person's membership in, affiliation with, resignation from, or refusal to join or affiliate with any labor union or employee organization.

A "yes" vote supports amending the Constitution of Tennessee by adding language that would make it unlawful for any person, corporation, association, or this state or its political subdivisions to deny or attempt 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.

A "no" vote opposes amending the Constitution of Tennessee by adding language that would make it unlawful for any person, corporation, association, or this state or its political subdivisions to deny or attempt 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.

Arguments

"Tennessee workers want to make their own choices in the workplace and this amendment will forever seal that right. It also sends a strong message that Tennessee will continue to foster a business-friendly climate into the future for locating high quality jobs. There is no better place than our State Constitution to ensure that Tennessee remains a right to work state." - State Senator Paul Bailey, in support of Constitutional Amendment 1 (Learn more)

""Right to work" is not about freedom. It's about an unfair legal coercion to provide representation to free-riders who refuse to join; it's about dragging down unions, an institution that has built up countless Tennessee families who would have otherwise been left behind. Senator Kelsey's constitutional change, which would permanently lock this unfair law into our state, runs counter to basic principles of fairness to which unite us all, conservative and progressive." - Kermit Moore, President of the A. Philip Randolph Institute; Anne Langendorfer, President of United Campus Workers in Knoxville; and Tobey Patton, a business representative at Teamsters Local 480, in opposition to Constitutional Amendment 1 (Learn more)

Measure Details