RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) -- Business and conservative groups are protesting a move by Gov. Beverly Perdue they see as a step toward unions for public employees.

Perdue signed an executive order last month widening the lines of communication between state agencies and employee groups beyond that of her predecessor, Mike Easley. Perdue recognized as many as five unions or organizations to represent workers in discussions on workplace conditions every quarter, instead of annually.

Perdue's order also raises the bureaucratic ranking of the meetings, meaning she and some agency heads will meet with representatives of the worker groups, including the 55,000-member State Employees Association of North Carolina. The lobbying group for state workers is an affiliate of the Service Employees International Union, the nation's largest public employee union.

"I don't think talking to employees is bad policy," said Francis De Luca, president of the Civitas Institute, a conservative think tank in Raleigh. "I think talking to a union is bad public policy. That is exactly what this is."

U.S. Labor Department figures show North Carolina is the least unionized state in the country, The News & Observer of Raleigh reported Thursday. The state bans all collective bargaining by public employees.

"We feel that this is a camel's nose under the tent," said Gregg Thompson, the state director of the National Federation of Independent Business. If state law were changed to allow public employees to unionize, labor groups would take heart and bolster efforts to organize at companies, Thompson said.

Perdue said she saw her directive as a gradual expansion of employee-employer discussions that she hoped would be "good for morale." Last year, workers were forced to take unpaid days off to the state budget would balance. The governor said she continues to oppose collective bargaining rights for state workers.

"Employers know I'm against collective bargaining," Perdue said.

The governor's assurances satisfied the state's Chamber of Commerce.

"We are reassured by the fact that the governor maintains her support for North Carolina's current ban on collective bargaining by public employees," spokeswoman Sherry Melton said.

In other states, such meet-and-confer agreements as Perdue directed have proven to be steps toward collective bargaining, said North Carolina State University's Rick Kearney, author of "Labor Relations in the Public Sector."

"If you are anti-union this waves a red flag at you," he said. "But from another perspective, state employees are feeling downtrodden. They have not had raises in two years and salaries are falling behind the private sector and there is no indication of any improvement in the near future."

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Information from: The News & Observer, http://www.newsobserver.com