NORTH CAROLINA GENERAL ASSEMBLY
1965 SESSION
RESOLUTION 69
HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION 969
A JOINT RESOLUTION MEMORIALIZING THE CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES, THE MEMBERS OF THE CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA, AND THE SECRETARY OF LABOR TO REFRAIN FROM REPEALING THE BARDEN AMENDMENT, OR SECTION 14(b), OF THE TAFT‑HARTLEY ACT ALLOWING STATES TO ENACT LAWS AGAINST COMPULSORY UNION CONTRACTS.
WHEREAS, the so-called Barden Amendment, designated as Section 14(b) of the Taft-Hartley Act, and further designated as 29 USCA 164(b) of the United States Code Annotated, permits states to prohibit agreements requiring membership in a labor organization as a condition of employment; and
WHEREAS, the President of the United States has sent a message to Congress asking for the repeal of this Section with the result that there would be compulsory unionism in every state of the Union; and
WHEREAS, North Carolina has enacted a statute (Article 10 of Chapter 95 of the General Statutes of North Carolina) which places affiliation with a trade union on a voluntary basis which prohibits an employer from requiring that any person shall become or remain a member of any labor union or labor organization as a condition of employment or continuation of employment and which also prohibits an employer from requiring that a person shall abstain or refrain from membership in any labor union or labor organization as a condition of employment or continuation of employment; and
WHEREAS, the Supreme Court of the United States in a case which involved the statutes of Nebraska and North Carolina (LINCOLN FEDERAL LABOR UNION NO. 19129, AMERICAN FEDERATION OF LABOR, ET AL V. NORTHWESTERN IRON AND METAL COMPANY, ET AL, 335 U.S. 525, 69 S. Ct. 251, 93 L.ed. 212) upheld the validity of said statutes and decided that said statutes were in all respects constitutional and legal and that said statutes were nondiscriminatory in that they only commanded employers not to discriminate against either union or nonunion members because they are such, and, further, that said statutes did not violate the freedom of speech, equal protection of the law or due process of law provisions of the Federal Constitution; and
WHEREAS, all men should be free to either affiliate or join or not to affiliate or join any organization, association, or trade union, and no men or employees should be compelled by arbitrary decree or provision of law to become a member of any trade union or organization involuntarily or against their wishes; and
WHEREAS, trade unions who in fact perform good services for their membership have not been hindered or unduly restricted in the progress of developing their unions, and it is believed that only those unions who desire to extract large sums of money through the check-off process from a captive membership desire the repeal of Section 14(b) of the Taft-Hartley Act:
Now, therefore, be it resolved by the House of Representatives, the Senate concurring:
Section 1. The General Assembly of North Carolina does hereby memorialize the Congress of the United States, the members of the United States Senate, the United States Senators from North Carolina, and the members of the House of Representatives of the Congress from North Carolina to refrain from enacting Federal legislation which would repeal the provisions of Section 14(b) of the Taft-Hartley Act or the provisions of 29 USCA 164(b), and that the Congress of the United States leave said provisions in full force and effect. The General Assembly of North Carolina further memorializes and requests the Honorable W. Willard Wirtz, Secretary of Labor, to use his best efforts to the end that such repealing legislation shall not be enacted by the Congress.
Sec. 2. Upon adoption of this Resolution, a copy thereof shall be mailed by the Secretary of State to the President of the United States Senate, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Congress of the United States, and a copy shall also be mailed by the Secretary of State to each member of the Congress from the State of North Carolina and to the Honorable W. Willard Wirtz, Secretary of Labor.
Sec. 3. This Resolution shall become effective upon its adoption.
In the General Assembly read three times and ratified, this the 2nd day of June, 1965.