U.S. Rep. Rick Allen, R-Georgia 12th District, visited Rolling Monkey Handmade Ice Cream in Statesboro last week and spoke briefly with the shop’s owners about business issues and labor laws.
Garrett and Megan Clark founded the company in November, which has been in operation for four years. The Rolling Monkey’s name reflects the fact that the “rolling” department employees roll the specialty ice cream into cylindrical shapes by first spreading the liquid mixture over a frozen flat surface and adding flavors. This is to order when customers watch.
“Monkey” was the first childhood nickname of Clark’s son, Connor, who will soon turn 16.
So far, Rolling Monkey has only one store on Northside Drive East. But the Clarks also have a “headquarters team” that operates out of the Business Innovation Team facility on East Main Street at Georgia Southern University’s downtown.
“We’re looking at a second location right now, which could be a headquarters that will start to scale with franchising,” Garrett Clarke said.
Rolling Monkey currently has about 30 team members, of which 22 are part-time employees, two are full-time besides Clark herself, and others are interns or interns or provide contract services, Megan Clark said. Clarks are refining their business model for excellence and running an internship program from their Eastern headquarters.
Allen, from Augusta, where he founded RW Allen Construction in 1976, now serves on the House Agriculture Committee and the House Education and Labor Committee, where he is the top Republican on the Health, Employment, Labor and Pensions subcommittee. He placed an order and watched as members of the Rolling Monkey crew behind the counter — store manager Isabelle Duran and employees Ronta Jones and Jaylee Smith were on duty — filled the cardboard cups with hand-rolled ice cream.
He ate everything but his cup and spoon while talking to Clark.
“Labor Rights Act”.
Speaking to reporters, Allen continued his support for legislation titled the “Workers’ Rights Act of 2022.” Allen introduced the bill in House Resolution 7194 last March, while Sen. Tim Scott, R-South Carolina, introduced the Senate version.
“Now we have a modern workforce,” said Allen. “Gone are the days of adversarial relations between workers and employers, and that is the problem that unions are facing. This is why you see the decline of trade unions in our country and of course civil servants unions are getting angry because it is known that they are a public service.
Unions, like the federal government, said that “technology has made everything different” and that they face the problem of being “one size fits all from top to bottom” and are unable to adapt to local conditions.
Among other things, HR 7194 requires a majority vote of all affected workers by secret ballot to consolidate a workplace or strike.
The bill prohibits unions from using or contributing any portion of union dues “for any purpose unrelated to labor organizational collective bargaining or contract administration activities” without the employee’s written consent. This prohibits union contributions to political campaigns without employee approval.
The bill was not advanced in the Democratic-controlled Congress.
Vs. The law of PRO
Allen compared the bill to the “Protecting the Right to Organize” or PRO Act, which he opposed. It passed the House as HR 842 in March 2021 by a vote of 225 yes to 206 nay, with only one Democrat opposed and five Republicans in favor. But the bill failed to become law.
“The Democrats have the PRO Act, and what they’ve tried to do is consolidate every business,” Allen said last week. “And they’re doing it the wrong way. He is an opponent. In other words, they want to eliminate secret ballots. The Labor Rights Act guarantees the secret ballot. It is the secret ballot that has made this country what it is today.
The ballots in this case relate to union votes, which are regulated by the National Labor Relations Board, not elections for public office. In an alternative process that currently requires the employer’s consent, signed cards, which are not secret ballots, can be accepted by a vote of more than half of the workplace’s employees to confirm the union.
The full texts of both bills can be found online at /www.congress.gov/bill.
Allen is currently running for re-election on Nov. 8, against Democratic candidate Elizabeth “Liz” Johnson of Statesboro, Allen’s opponent in the 2020 general election.
