Maryland Becomes 14th State to Prohibit Anti-Union Sessions as Nationwide Movement Grows
ANNAPOLIS, Md., April 30, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Maryland Teamsters are celebrating the passage of SB 417/HB 45, legislation authored by Delegate Joe Vogel (D – Gaithersburg), which bans mandatory attendance for workers at captive audience meetings. These meetings are employer-sponsored propaganda sessions designed to discourage workers from organizing.
“We started fighting for this bill three years ago because banning this undemocratic practice is a moral imperative — not just for the labor movement, but for everyone in our state who cares about economic justice,” said Sean Cedenio, President of Teamsters Joint Council 62 in Baltimore. “This a major victory for working families in Maryland, and it happened because Teamsters mobilized, showed up in Annapolis, and made our voices heard.”
Maryland is the 14th state to ban mandatory captive audience meetings. As a result, nearly one in three Americans now lives in a jurisdiction where employers can’t forcibly subject workers to anti-union meetings.
“I was subjected to vicious public attacks during a captive audience meeting when I was a rank-and-file worker fighting to form a union,” said Brandon King, an organizer with Teamsters Local 570. “No worker should ever be put in that position. Thanks to Teamsters and the leadership of Delegate Joe Vogel, State Senator Clarence Lam, and the strength of our coalition, Maryland workers are now protected.”
Teamsters Joint Council 62 represents more than 20,000 hardworking men and women throughout Maryland and Washington, D.C.
Contact:
Matt McQuaid, (771) 241-0015
mmcquaid@teamster.org
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SOURCE Teamsters Joint Council 62
