SOUTH DAKOTA

Title 60. Labor and Employment
Chapter 60-8. Interference with Employment

S.D. Const. art. VI, § 2

§ 2. Due process – Right to work.

No person shall be deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law. The right of persons to work shall not be denied or abridged on account of membership or nonmembership in any labor union, or labor organization. (Approved 1946.)

S.D. Codified Laws §§ 60-8-3 through 8-8

 

§ 60-8-3. Denial of right to work because of membership or nonmembership in union as misdemeanor. No person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law. The right of persons to work shall not be denied or abridged on account of membership or nonmembership in any labor union, or labor organization. Violation of this section is a Class 2 misdemeanor. (Enacted 1947.)

§ 60-8-4. Agreement denying free exercise of right to work as misdemeanor. Any agreement relating to employment, whether in writing or oral, which by its stated terms, or by implication, interpretation, or effect thereof, directly or indirectly denies, abridges, interferes with, or in any manner curtails the free exercise of the right to work by any citizen of the state of South Dakota, is a Class 2 misdemeanor. (Enacted 1947.)

§ 60-8-5. Coercion to enter into agreement denying free exercise of right to work as misdemeanor. Any request, demand or threat made by any person to any employer or employee, to persuade or coerce such employer or employee to enter into an agreement violative of the provisions contained in §§ 60-8-3 and 60-8-4 and article VI, § 2 of the state Constitution, is a Class 2 misdemeanor. (Enacted 1947.)

§ 60-8-6. Coercion of employee to join labor organization as misdemeanor. Any solicitation or request to join a labor organization made by any person to any employee, accompanied by threats of injury to such employee or members of his family, or damage to property, or loss or impairment of present or future employment of such employee, is a Class 2 misdemeanor. (Enacted 1947.)

§ 60-8-8. Violation of right to work law – Investigations by state’s attorney – Prosecutions. It shall be the duty of the state’s attorney of every county to prosecute all persons violating any of the provisions of §§ 60-8-3 to 60-8-6, inclusive, in his county and he shall be responsible for the proper enforcement of such sections, and whenever he shall have any information or knowledge or have any reason to believe that any of the provisions of such sections are being violated in his county, he shall investigate the same and use every legitimate means at his command to secure the necessary and proper evidence of such violation, and immediately upon securing such evidence, he shall file a complaint or preliminary information against any person against whom he shall have any evidence of any such violation, and he shall have such person arrested and shall vigorously prosecute such charges to final judgment. (Enacted 1955.)

 

Chapter 60-9A. Collective Bargaining
[Applicable to employees not under National Labor Relations or Railway Labor Act]

In accordance with this chapter, employees shall have the right of self-organization and the right to form, join, or assist labor organizations, to bargain collectively through representatives of their own free choosing, and to engage in lawful, concerted activities for the purposes of collective bargaining or other mutual aid or protection; and shall also have the right to refrain from any and all such activities. (Enacted 1974.)

60-9A-12. Unfair practices by employers

It shall be an unfair practice for an employer to:

(1) Interfere with, restrain, or coerce employees in the exercise of rights guaranteed by law;

. . . .

(3) Discriminate in regard to hire or tenure or employment or any term or condition of employment to encourage or discourage membership in any collective bargaining unit. . . . (Enacted 1974.)

60-9A-13. Unfair practices by collective bargaining units

It is an unfair practice for a collective bargaining unit or its agents to:

(1) Restrain or coerce an employee in the exercise of the rights guaranteed by this chapter. However, this subdivision does not impair the right of an employee organization to prescribe its own requirements with respect to the acquisition or retention of voluntary membership therein;

. . . .

(3) Cause or attempt to cause an employer to discriminate against an employee in violation of subdivision 60-9A-12(3), or to discriminate against an employee with respect to whom membership in such organization has been denied or terminated on some ground. . . . (Enacted 1974.)

60-9A-14. Closed shop and agency shop contracts not authorized

Nothing in this chapter shall be construed as authorizing the execution or application of agreements requiring membership in a labor organization or requiring the payment of fees or contributions of any kind whatsoever in lieu of membership to a labor organization as a condition of employment. (Enacted 1974.)

Chapter 60-10. Labor Disputes, Picketing and Boycotts

60-10-10. Interference with right to work by use of force and violence as misdemeanor

It is a Class 2 misdemeanor for any person, singly or in concert with others, to interfere or attempt to interfere with another in the exercise of his right to work or of his right to enter upon the performance of any lawful employment or vocation, by the use of force, threatening acts, violence or acts of intimidation. (Enacted 1947.)

Title 61. Unemployment Compensation
Chapter 61-6. Unemployment Benefits

61-6-17. Employment deemed unsuitable because of labor dispute, unfavorable working conditions, or requirement as to union membership

Notwithstanding any other provisions of this title no work shall be deemed suitable and benefits shall not be denied under this title to any otherwise eligible individual for refusing to accept new work under any of the following conditions:

. . . .

(3) If, as a condition of being employed, the individual would be required to join or to resign from or refrain from joining any labor organization. (As amended 1955.)

Title 3. Public Officers and Employees
Chapter 3-18. Public Employees’ Unions

3-18-1. Employees subject to chapter–Excluded officers and employees– Rights preserved to excluded persons

The words "public employees" as used in this chapter shall mean any person holding a position by appointment or employment in the government of the State of South Dakota or in the government of any one or more of the political subdivisions thereof, or in the service of the public schools, or in the service of any authority, commission, or board, or any other branch of the public service. The term does not include:

(1) Elected officials and persons appointed to fill vacancies in elective offices and members of any board or commission;

(2) Administrators except elementary and secondary school administrators, administrative officers, directors, or chief executive officers of a public employer or major divisions thereof as well as chief deputies, first assistants, and any other public employees having authority in the interest of the public employer to hire, transfer, suspend, layoff, recall, promote, discharge, assign, reward, or discipline other public employees, or the responsibility to direct them, or to adjust their grievances, or to effectively recommend such action, if in connection with the foregoing, the exercise of such authority is not of a merely routine or clerical nature, but requires the use of independent judgment;

(3) Students working as part-time employees twenty hours per week or less;

(4) Temporary public employees employed for a period of four months or less;

(5) Commissioned and enlisted personnel of the South Dakota National Guard;

(6) Judges and employees of the unified court system;

(7) Legislators and the full-time and part-time employees of the legislature or any state agency that statutorily is directed by the legislative branch.

This section does not preclude employees described in subdivisions (1) to (7), inclusive, from joining professional, noncollective bargaining organizations. (Enacted
1969, as amended 1982.)

3-18-2. Rights relating to labor organizations–Designation of representatives–Discrimination against employees exercising rights as misdemeanor–Good faith negotiations–Intimidation

Public employees shall have the right to form and join labor or employee organizations, and shall have the right not to form and join such organizations. . . . It is a Class 2 misdemeanor to discharge or otherwise discriminate against an employee for the exercise of such rights . . . . It shall be unlawful for any person or group of persons, either directly or indirectly to intimidate or coerce any public employee to join, or refrain from joining, a labor or employee organization. (Enacted 1969, as amended 1980.)

3-18-3.1.
Unfair practices of employers defined

It shall be an unfair practice for a public employer to:

(1) Interfere with, restrain, or coerce employees in the
exercise of rights guaranteed by law;

. . . .

(3) Discriminate in regard to hire or tenure or employment or any term or condition of employment to encourage or discourage membership in any employee organization . . . . (Enacted 1973.)

3-18-3.2.
Unfair practices of employee organizations defined

It is an unfair practice for an employee organization or its agents to:

(1) Restrain or coerce an employee in the exercise of the rights guaranteed by this chapter. However, this subdivision does not impair the right of an employee organization to prescribe its own requirements with respect to the acquisition or retention of membership therein;

. . . .

(3) Cause or attempt to cause an employer to discriminate against an employee in violation of subdivision 3-18-3.1(3) or to discriminate against an employee with respect to whom membership in such organization has been denied or terminated on some ground . . . . (Enacted 1973, as amended 1993.)