2021 Georgia Code
Title 34 - Labor and Industrial Relations
Chapter 6 - Labor Organizations and Labor Relations
Article 1 - General Provisions
§ 34-6-1. Requirement of Notice by Labor Organization Before Strike; Penalty

1. As used in this Code section, the term:
   1. "Labor organization" means any labor union or any organization or agency or employee representation, committee, or plan in which employees participate and which exists for the purpose, in whole or in part, of dealing with employers concerning grievances, labor disputes, wages, rates of pay, hours of employment, or conditions of work.
   2. "Local" means any local agency or branch or dues or assessment collecting unit or affiliate of a labor organization. A labor organization shall also be a local when it collects dues or assessments directly from its members and not through the medium of a branch or another local.
2. No labor organization and no local shall call or cause any strike, slowdown, or stoppage of work in this state until after 30 days' written notice is given by the labor organization or local to the employer, stating the intention to call the strike, slowdown, or stoppage of work and giving the reasons therefor.
3. Nothing in this Code section shall apply to any labor organization or local in a seasonal industry such as the ladies' garment, hat and millinery, and men's clothing industry, nor shall any provision of this Code section apply to labor unions of railroad employees operating under the Railway Labor Act.
4. Any person violating any of the provisions of this Code section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.

(Ga. L. 1941, p. 515, §§ 1-4, 8.)

- Punishment for misdemeanors generally, § 17-10-3.

- The Railway Labor Act, referred to in subsection (c) of this Code section, is codified as 45 U.S.C. § 151 et seq.

JUDICIAL DECISIONS

Exemptions.

- Seasonal industries exempted from the operation of the statute prohibiting strikes without 30 days written notice can only properly be taken to include such seasonal industries as are made so by natural causes, and mere peaks and lulls in consumer demand with respect to a given industry cannot properly be said to so distinguish it. Local Union, Div. No. 1362 v. Howard Bus Lines, 202 Ga. 430, 43 S.E.2d 523 (1947).

- County board of realtors was not a "labor organization" within the meaning of the right-to-work statutes. Nixon v. Gwinnett County Bd. of Realtors, Inc., 249 Ga. 862, 295 S.E.2d 78 (1982).

Cited in Melton v. City of Atlanta, 324 F. Supp. 315 (N.D. Ga. 1971).

RESEARCH REFERENCES

Am. Jur. 2d.

- 48 Am. Jur. 2d, Labor and Labor Relations, § 552. 48B Am. Jur. 2d, Labor and Labor Relations, §§ 2532 et seq., 2561 et seq., 2624 et seq.

- 51 C.J.S., Labor Relations, §§ 46 et seq., 60, 74 et seq., 82, 177. 51A C.J.S., Labor Relations, § 457.

- Employment of union members at less than union rates, or otherwise in violation of rules of union, as justification for calling strike, 66 A.L.R. 1085.

Suit between labor organizations or members thereof as involving a labor dispute within anti-injunction statutes, 138 A.L.R. 287; 170 A.L.R. 1096.

Employee committee or similar group as "labor organization" under the National Labor Relations Act (29 U.S.C.S. §§ 151 et seq.), 19 A.L.R.2d 566; 75 A.L.R. Fed. 262.

Interferences with production by concerted action of employees, short of formal strike, as affected by labor relations acts, 25 A.L.R.2d 315.

Applicability of Norris-La Guardia Act and similar state statutes to injunction action by private complainant, 29 A.L.R.2d 323.

Right of labor union to strike, picket, or impose boycott to compel payment by employer of fine or other penalty, 32 A.L.R.2d 342.

Continuance or termination of labor union's status or authority as bargaining agent, 42 A.L.R.2d 1415.

Stock purchase or stock bonus plan as within provision of federal labor relations acts requiring employer to bargain collectively, 58 A.L.R.2d 843.

Measure and elements of damages recoverable against union for breach of no-strike provision in collective bargaining agreement, 92 A.L.R.2d 1232.

Procedural rights of union members in union disciplinary proceedings - modern state cases, 79 A.L.R.4th 941.

Employer's duty to furnish information regarding financial status to employees' representative under National Labor Relations Act, 106 A.L.R. Fed. 694.

Reasonableness of qualifications for union office under § 401(c) of Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act (29 U.S.C.A. § 481(c)), 147 A.L.R. Fed. 389.