Protecting the Right to Organize Act of 2021

Floor Speech

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Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, I got here just a little before I was going to speak, and I heard the gentlewoman from Illinois speak. She talked about flexible work hours. I thought to myself: Who decides what is flexible?

Historically, of course, working men and women were told: You will do this for that much at this time under these conditions.

That was the reality--sweatshops, health-endangering shops, and long hours with little pay. Then the labor unions came along. They got some strength, they got some support, and lo and behold, the middle class started to grow and started to make good wages, have safe working conditions, and, yes, flexible hours.

Mr. Speaker, as we work to create jobs and build our economy back better, we need to make sure that the jobs that are available to Americans help them get by and get ahead. That is what the minimum wage battle is about. That is what this is about--average working people wanting to get by, wanting to have a decent salary, and wanting to have decent working conditions.

Very frankly, that just didn't happen, Mr. Speaker. Some died to make that a reality. Others were beaten and battered in order to have that be a reality. Child labor, abuse of gender, women abused in the workplace working in terrible, odious conditions--that is why Democrats passed the PRO Act last year, and that is why we will do so again today.

One of the most important tools for workers to secure better pay and benefits is the right to organize and bargain collectively. Those of you who have been employers know that you want to maximize profits and you want to try and manage and see whether you can hire people for X amount of dollars rather than X plus Y. That right was secured over the course of generations by workers who fought to have that right recognized and secured. Collective bargaining made possible the prosperity and upward mobility that was a hallmark of America in the 20th century.

Strong unions lead to better pay, higher quality and more affordable healthcare, more secure retirement benefits, and workplaces that are safer, not just for union members but for all workers.

Unfortunately, in the 21st century, Mr. Speaker, the right to organize has been eroded and weakened. As a result, many workers are stuck with no recourse to demand the better pay and benefits they deserve, and they need, and their families need, and we need as a middle class society that knows that we are a consumer economy. Henry Ford knew if you didn't pay them, then they couldn't buy your cars--a pretty simple equation.

The PRO Act would change that, empowering workers, once again, through their right to organize. It prevents management from misclassifying workers.

I urge Members to think whether or not that happens.

Mr. Speaker, this gig economy sounds great until you get to be 65 or 67 and you look around and there is nobody behind you. There is nobody to lift you up. There is nobody to say: Thank you for that 30 years, 40 years, or 50 years of service to our company or to our economy. It prevents management from misclassifying workers in order to avoid negotiating the fair pay and safe working conditions they deserve.

No, they are just contract employees. They don't have any real attachment or relationship with our company. They are just contract, and we can use them one day and throw them away the next.

Moreover, the PRO Act levels the playing field for labor unions in contract negotiations. Maybe you don't believe in that, Mr. Speaker, not you personally, but maybe there are people who don't believe that they ought to be equal. After all, I started the business, and I invested money.

I agree with that; I want to see them make money. I am a procapitalist Democrat, a procapitalist American. I have been around the world, and I have seen noncapitalist societies. They don't work very well. But the capitalist society works better if everybody is lifted, not just some.

I thank Chairman Scott of the Education and Labor Committee for his hard work on this bill, as well as the members of his committee.

I am proud that we Democrats strongly support this bill, which is so central to our effort to make opportunities more accessible and more broadly available to American workers as we look to rebuild our economy stronger after COVID-19.

The leader of the party on the other side of the aisle said in his speech that he gave at the beginning of the session: We are the workers' party.

We will see, Mr. Speaker, when we vote on this bill, whether that statement was accurate.

The workers are not against this bill. As I said last year, when we passed this bill, the PRO Act is the workers' rights legislation that working people in our country need and for which they have been waiting for far too long. That is why we need to pass this bill today and send it to the Senate.

Mr. Speaker, I urge a ``yes'' vote for our workers, for our families, for our children, and for our effort to build back better and stronger from the challenges we now face.

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