Protecting the Right to Organize Act of 2021

Floor Speech

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Mr. BOWMAN. Mr. Speaker, we live in a country where CEOs can make as much as 320 times what their workers make. We live in a country where 1 percent--the top 1 percent economically controls more wealth than the bottom 90 percent of our country. We live in a country where three individuals own more wealth than the bottom 50 percent of our Nation. In a democracy with a Constitution such as ours, this economic inequality cannot stand.

The PRO Act seeks to empower workers, workers who built this country with their blood, sweat, and tears, who work overtime and extra time and weekends and do not take a vacation so that our economy can thrive. The PRO Act gives workers the opportunity to unionize and organize without being oppressed within the plantation capitalist system. I rise to ask bipartisan support of this important legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record a letter of support for this legislation from the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union. UFCW, Washington, DC, March 8, 2021. TO ALL MEMBERS OF THE UNITED STATES CONGRESS Re UFCW Action: Vote YES on H.R. 8421 | Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act.

Dear Senator and/or Representative: On behalf of the 1.3 million members of the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW), I urge you to vote ``yes'' on the Protecting the Right to Organize Act when it comes to the House floor and oppose any motions to reconsider or weaking amendments. UFCW members are essential frontline workers risking their lives to keep food on our tables, grocery shelves stocked, and our prescriptions filled during this pandemic. By strengthening the right to organize, collectively bargain, and keep our workplaces safe, the PRO Act will provide a better life for our current and future members. We will be scoring this vote.

Workers face many difficulties on the job including hazardous working conditions, diminishing value of benefits, and stagnating wages. The best way for workers to increase workplace safety, wages, and benefits is to form a union-- however, the right to organize has been eroded. The PRO Act would modernize the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) to strengthen the rights of workers to organize, place meaningful penalties on employers who violate workers' rights, and return power to workers to bargaining for fairer wages, benefits, and working conditions.

The UFCW believes that restoring our middle class is dependent on strengthening the collective strength of workers to negotiate for better pay and benefits. Please vote ``yes'' on the PRO Act and help us build an economy that works for all working families. Sincerely, Anthony M. Perrone,

International President. Shaun Barclay,

International Secretary-Treasurer.

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