FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

BOSTON, MA (July 22, 2025) – The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), the nation’s leading small business advocacy association with thousands of members across the Commonwealth, released the following statement on legislation being heard before the Joint Committee on Labor and Workforce Development today.

“Captive audience legislation claims to protect workers from mandatory meetings on their employer’s political and religious views but instead prohibits business owners from discussing the impact of unionization efforts,” said NFIB Massachusetts State Director Christopher Carlozzi. “This proposal tramples the constitutionally protected free speech rights of business owners simply attempting to convey to their workforce the very real-world consequences of forming a union. Because changes to the workplace will affect their jobs, workers should have information from both sides, not just labor, when considering the formation of a union.”

For nearly 80 years, employers’ free speech on unionization discussion was protected by the National Labor Relation Board’s 1948 Babcock & Wilcox Co. decision. The NLRB determined owners were allowed to require mandatory captive audience meetings to convey, in a non-coercive manner, what unionizing will mean for a business. However, in 2024, the NLRB decided in Amazon.com LLC that mandatory captive audience meetings were no longer permitted but offered a safe harbor to allow for voluntary gatherings. House Bill No. 2183 seeks to preempt federal law, going so far as to permit workers who “feel” penalized for not attending voluntary meetings to sue their employer.

“This legislation is a solution in search of a problem and will expose the Commonwealth’s employers to frivolous lawsuits,” continued Carlozzi. “It does not just prohibit employers from having the ability to counter labor union misinformation, it dangerously prevents vital information from reaching workers on their very livelihoods.”

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For over 80 years, NFIB has been advocating on behalf of America’s small and independent business owners, both in Washington, D.C., and in all 50 state capitals. NFIB is nonprofit, nonpartisan, and member-driven. Since our founding in 1943, NFIB has been exclusively dedicated to small and independent businesses, and remains so today. For more information, please visit nfib.com.