The Tennessee State Conference NAACP, Free Hearts and coalition partners are calling upon Tennesseans to vote No on Amendment 1 in this year’s election. The proposed amendment attempts to enshrine “right-to-work” language in the state constitution.
This will devastate labor unions and tilts the playing field in favor of big and
powerful corporations.
The proposed amendment would expand right-to-work policies to every corner of the workforce, while giving Tennesseans less democratic rights than most workers in the country. The amendment will make it difficult for everyday workers to secure benefits such as guaranteed retirement, occupational safety assistance, affordable health and dental insurance, and fair worker compensation.
Marilyn Brown, Chair of the Tennessee NAACP’s State Labor and Industry Committee, says that Amendment 1 “rigs the system against Tennessee’s working families” and that its “biggest supporters are millionaires, billionaires, and members of Tennessee’s richest families. But those most harmed by Amendment 1 are hard-working Tennesseans who built our state brick by brick and block by block. Amendment 1 is unfair and anti-democratic.”
Right-to-work laws also have racial discriminatory roots as rich and powerful elites used them to pit workers against each other along racial and ethnic lines. Martin Luther King Jr. further warned that, “In our glorious fight for civil rights, we must guard against being fooled by false slogans, such as ‘right to work.’”
Your vote is important in this election year. By voting No on Amendment 1, you will be choosing to save democracy in the workplace. Join the Tennessee State Conference NAACP, Free Hearts and coalition partners on Saturday, November 5 th at 11:00 am in Dyersburg as we urge Tennesseans to vote No on right-to-work.
The press conference will take place at McIver’s Grant Public Library, 410 W Court Street. All are invited to attend.
Livestreamed at:
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