People advocating for changes in Connecticut’s current free speech statute, Conn. Gen. Stat. §31-51q, have overlooked the preemptive strength of federal labor law.

Currently, the Connecticut legislature is considering a bill, Revised Bill No. 163, that would amend §31-51q in several ways. One of the revisions to §31-51q that the Legislature proposes is a prohibition against employers requiring their employees attend meetings where the employer explains its position on unionization; usually indicating why it believes that unionization would be inimical to the interests of both employer and employee. Such captive audience meetings are a standard component of almost all employers’ union avoidance campaigns. An attempt to ban them or to punish employers for holding them, however, would run afoul of the National Labor Relations Act, and would certainly be held to be preempted.