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Shelby County commission asks state to exempt county from Tennessee'wide 'right to work' law
Summary
By an 8'4 vote, the board approved a resolution requesting the Tennessee General Assembly to allow Shelby County to opt out of the state'wide right-to-work provision and restore local authority over labor standards; supporters framed the measure as a choice to improve wages, opponents said the request is unlikely to succeed at the state level.
The Shelby County Board of Commissioners voted to request that the Tennessee General Assembly exempt the county from the state's "right to work" provisions, a measure supporters said would restore local authority to set labor standards and could help raise wages and narrow racial and gender wage gaps.
Sponsor Commissioner Henry E. Brooks argued the county faces disproportionately high poverty and child-poverty rates and that local control could allow policies tailored to Shelby County's economic realities. "Exempting Shelby County from the right to work statute would not require any business or worker to join a union," Brooks said, framing the request as restoring local choice.
Commissioner Erica Sugarman, who also supported the resolution, cited research tying right-to-work statutes to lower average wages and argued the change would promote pay equity. Commissioner David C. Bradford Jr. and others expressed skepticism about the practical chance of success at the state level, and Commissioner Bradford noted the state constitutional amendment that enshrined right-to-work.
The resolution passed 8 ayes, 4 nos.
Provenance: Discussion introduced SEG 3706; vote recorded SEG 4019'4023.
