Senate · Introduced · 2025-2026 Regular Session

SB417: SB417 Public Officers and Employees; public employees to self-organize or to be represented by a labor organization and bargain collectively with the state; authorize

Last action January 27, 2026 · Senate Read and Referred

A Georgia Senate bill would let public employees, including state and local government workers, firefighters, and law enforcement officers, unionize and bargain collectively with their public employers, while still banning strikes.

In plain language

Georgia law currently does not require public employers to recognize unions or bargain with them, and existing law affirmatively says collective bargaining is not fostered for school employees. This bill would reverse that. It creates a new legal framework letting public employees organize, choose a labor organization to represent them, and negotiate over pay, hours, and working conditions with the state or local governments. It sets up a new Georgia Public Employees Relations Board to certify bargaining agents, oversee elections, resolve disputes, and rule on unfair labor practices. The bill keeps a ban on strikes by public employees but allows picketing and handbilling. It creates separate bargaining units for firefighters and law enforcement officers, sets up grievance and impasse (arbitration) procedures, and lets unions collect dues through payroll deduction. It also repeals or reserves several existing Georgia laws that currently block or limit public-sector bargaining, and amends the theft-by-extortion law so lawful bargaining is not treated as extortion. The law would take effect as soon as the Governor signs it or it becomes law without his signature.

What the bill does

Creates a new legal right for public employees, other than managers and confidential staff, to form or join a labor organization and bargain collectively with their government employer.
Establishes the Georgia Public Employees Relations Board, appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the Senate, to certify unions, run elections, and decide unfair labor practice cases.
Bans strikes, work stoppages, or deliberate slowdowns by public employees or unions but still permits picketing and handbilling.
Sets firefighters and law enforcement officers apart as separate bargaining units with their own collective bargaining rights.
Repeals or 'reserves' (effectively erases) existing Georgia laws that currently limit or block collective bargaining for school employees and firefighters, and removes a limit on payroll deductions for organizations that bargain collectively.
Changes Georgia's theft by extortion law (O.C.G.A. § 16-8-16) so that lawful, good-faith union bargaining cannot be prosecuted as criminal extortion.

Who it affects

State and local government employees (excluding managers and confidential staff), public school and university system employees including student workers, firefighters, law enforcement officers, labor unions seeking to represent them, public employers such as counties, cities, school boards, and the Board of Regents, and the new Georgia Public Employees Relations Board.

Why it matters

If enacted, public workers across Georgia could unionize and negotiate wages, hours, and working conditions with their government employers for the first time under state law, something current law discourages or blocks. Strikes would remain illegal, but disputes would go through a new state board and courts rather than being unregulated.

Key provisions

New O.C.G.A. § 45-19-71 gives public employees the right to self-organize and bargain collectively through a certified union, while § 45-19-72 bans strikes but allows picketing and handbilling.
New § 45-19-73 creates the three-member Georgia Public Employees Relations Board, appointed by the Governor with Senate confirmation, including one employer representative, one employee representative, and one public member.
New § 45-19-74 sets up procedures for unions to gain recognition, including petitions signed by at least 30 percent of employees and secret-ballot elections run by the board.
New § 45-19-75 lets certified unions collect membership dues through payroll deduction once an employee authorizes it in writing.
New § 45-19-76 makes firefighters and law enforcement officers separate bargaining units with their own collective bargaining rights.
New §§ 45-19-80 and 45-19-81 require negotiated grievance procedures and set up mediation or binding arbitration when bargaining reaches an impasse.
New §§ 45-19-82 through 45-19-86 define unfair labor practices by employers and unions, create board enforcement and appeal procedures through superior courts, and let courts issue injunctions against strikes.
Section 2-1 through 2-5 revise Georgia's extortion law, repeal a state law barring school-employee bargaining, repeal a firefighter wage-dispute chapter, and repeal the current strike-related article in Title 45, taking effect once the Governor signs the bill.

Status timeline

2026-01-27Senate Read and Referred (Senate)
2026-01-16Senate Hopper (Senate)

Topics

public employee unions
collective bargaining
firefighters and police
labor law
school employees