Businesses sue state over new California workplace law [Video]

California businesses are suing to halt a new state law that bars them from requiring employees to attend anti-union meetings at work.

The state’s Chamber of Commerce and California Restaurant Association filed the suit in federal court on New Year’s Eve, a day before the new law was to go into effect, seeking to block it from being enforced.

The law prohibits employers from disciplining workers who refuse to attend workplace meetings to hear about their bosses’ “opinion about religious or political matters” — including whether or not employees should unionize. Businesses could be fined $500 a day for violations.

Labor groups said these so-called captive audience meetings intimidate workers out of exercising their right to unionize; business groups argued it interferes with employers’ right to free speech, including discussing how political or policy developments affect their workplaces.

The law, authored by Hayward Democratic Sen. Aisha Wahab, was one of organized labor’s few victories in the 2024 legislative session. 

California joined about 10 other mostly …