Protecting the Right to Organize Act of 2021

Floor Speech

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Ms. JAYAPAL. Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of the PRO Act. I am very proud to be a lead sponsor of this transformative bill and to represent one of the most unionized States in the country, where I have spent two decades organizing alongside unions for decent wages, benefits, and workers' rights.

Unions helped build America's middle class. But over the years large corporations have deployed union-busting tactics to rob workers of their fundamental workplace rights. That changes today.

The PRO Act will undo decades of Republican antiworker policies. It puts power back into the hands of workers and secures the right to organize and bargain for good wages, fair benefits, and an equal voice on the job. The PRO Act is about democracy in the workplace. It is about standing with the heroic workers carrying America through the pandemic.

It is past time to pass the PRO Act.

Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record two letters of support from the Service Employees International Union and the Communications Workers of America. SEIU, February 4, 2021.

Dear Representative: On behalf of the 2 million members of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), we write to endorse the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act of 2021. This important bill would strengthen working Americans' rights to join together in unions and bargain for higher wages and better working conditions to help create balanced, inclusive growth, and build our economy back better than it was before.

We are nearly one year into the worst public health and economic crisis we have faced in a generation, with underpaid frontline workers literally risking their lives for poverty wages. While many have rightly called these essential workers heroes, our country has failed to truly respect them with a promise to protect them and adequately pay them throughout the crisis. Too many essential workers continue to lack basic work protections like proper PPE, paid sick and family leave, or health care, and far too few have a voice in the workplace and access to a union. This is most true for the Black and brown workers who have kept us safe and fed throughout this crisis.

Unions are the best solution to leveling the playing field and safeguarding the health and safety of working people. In fact, during this crisis, where workers that have been able to act collectively and through their union, they have been able to secure enhanced safety measures, additional hazard pay, paid sick time, and other protections. But because of a concerted effort to undermine unions in America over the past forty years, just 10% of working people have a say in the decisions that affect them at work, in their communities and in our economy. Too many unscrupulous employers--even amidst a pandemic--take advantage of America's outdated labor laws to stifle the ability of working people to join together in unions to stay safe on the job and build a better future for their families.

The PRO Act would reinvigorate labor law to help build an economy that works better for the millions of people who work for a living--not just those at the top. We applaud the bill's joint employer provision, which would ensure that workers can meaningfully bargain with all companies that actually control their employment. We also endorse the bill's new standard to stop employers from misclassifying their workers as independent contractors or supervisors to escape their responsibilities. These changes would make it harder for companies to circumvent basic worker protections through subcontracting arrangements or other evasions.

We also strongly support the PRO Act's reforms banning anti-worker state laws that supersede collective bargaining agreements. These so-called Right-to Work laws weaken workers' voice at the workplace, drive down wages, and threaten the economic security of all workers--union and nonunion alike. Furthermore, working people subject to these laws earn $1,558 less per year than those who are not. The PRO Act permits companies and workers to decide for themselves whether to negotiate fair share agreements in collective bargaining. In addition, we are pleased to see PRO Act provisions that would deter employer misconduct by making remedies meaningful, penalizing the most egregious violations, limiting interference in union elections, and facilitating first contracts with newly formed unions. The bill rightfully removes restraints on workers' solidarity actions across different workplaces.

In this time of crisis, working people around the country urgently need the PRO Act's much needed reforms to make it easier for people to join unions and hold companies accountable. A voice on the job has never been more important for safeguarding the health, safety, and economic security of the working people we have relied on to get us through this pandemic.

SEIU members are proud to support the PRO Act. We will add any future votes on this legislation to our legislative scorecard. Sincerely, Mary Kay Henry, International President. ____ Communications Workers of America, AFL-CIO, CLC, Washington, DC, March 9, 2021.

Dear Representative: On behalf of the members and officers of the Communications Workers of America (CWA), I am writing to urge you to vote in favor of H.R. 842, the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act, when it comes to a vote on the House floor this week.

The ability of working people to join together to collectively bargain for fair pay and working conditions is a fundamental right. But it is extremely difficult for private sector workers covered by the NLRA to organize if their employer opposes them doing so. Companies can intimidate workers relentlessly, misclassify workers, gerrymander election units, dodge accountability for violating worker rights by hiding behind subcontractors, and more--all completely legally. And even if they do violate the law and illegally terminate or punish workers for union activity, the existing NLRA is toothless and its penalties barely amount to a slap on the wrist. Companies who illegally fire workers are only required to pay them back pay, minus any income they've had elsewhere in the interim.

Once workers do come together and organize, the existing NLRA is also inadequate to protect worker rights. Companies can easily stall indefinitely to prevent workers from getting a first contract for years after they organize. If and when workers are forced to go on strike to protect their livelihoods, employers can permanently replace strikers without consequence.

The huge surge in economic inequality over the past quarter-century is related directly to many workers' lack of a strong voice on the job. Over that time, wages have stagnated for workers across the economy, while income has skyrocketed for CEOs and the wealthiest 1%. By 2012, the wealthiest 1% made 22.5% of national income, while the bottom 90% of families made less than half of national income--just 49.6%.

Workers who form unions have stronger protections against discrimination and retaliation, enhanced job security, better retirement benefits, and more effective ways of combating practices that jeopardize their health and safety on the job. These problems have all been magnified by the ongoing COVID- 19 pandemic.

New research confirms that workers without union representation are less likely to have paid leave, to have access to proper PPE at work, or to have protections against unnecessary layoffs. The PRO Act would fix these problems and re-establish workers' right to organize in this country, In doing so, it helps combat skyrocketing economic inequality and strengthens the middle class. Therefore, I strongly urge you to vote in favor of the PRO Act and oppose any amendments that would weaken the bill. CWA will include votes on this bill in our Congressional Scorecard.

Thank you in advance for your consideration. Sincerely, Christopher M. Shelton, President, Communications Workers of America (CWA).

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