Protecting the Right to Organize Act of 2021

Floor Speech

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Mr. ALLEN. Mr. Speaker, my Democrat colleagues have, apparently, decided committee work doesn't matter for the 117th Congress because they, once again, brought legislation to the House floor without first holding a single committee hearing or markup.

As the Republican leader of the Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions Subcommittee, I would have welcomed the opportunity to debate and amend this flawed legislation in committee.

H.R. 842, also known as the PRO Act, is a radical proposal aimed at appeasing big union bosses who fund the far left's political agenda. From 2010 to 2018, unions sent more than $1.6 billion in member dues to hundreds of left-wing groups like Planned Parenthood, the Clinton Foundation, and the Progressive Democrats of America, instead of spending that money on worker representation.

That is right. Union leaders are lining their pockets and their friends' pockets with the dues workers are forced to pay. No worker should be forced to participate in union activity or pay for representation they do not agree with. That is un-American. But the pro-union bosses act would overturn right-to-work laws in 27 States, including my home State of Georgia.

That would be devastating for Georgia's post-COVID economy. That is why I will offer an amendment protecting the right-to-work laws. In fact, I introduced a total of five amendments to this bill that would put workers first; but, unfortunately, Democrats only allowed one to be considered on the House floor for debate even though last Congress they allowed more than one to be voted on this House floor.

But the American people deserve to know the other amendments that the Democrats blocked.

First is protecting employees' right to secret-ballot elections. An amendment requiring all unions to win a secret-ballot election in order to be certified because no worker should face retribution because of how they cast their ballot.

Codifying a sensible joint-employer standard. An amendment that strikes the section of the bill which defines joint employment using the indirect control and replaces this provision with the direct and immediate control to protect franchisees and treat them as any other small business owner.

Employee privacy protection. An amendment requiring employers to receive express consent from employees before sharing their personal information with a union because the bill currently does not require that consent.

And worker retirement protection. This amends the bill to state that mandatory arbitration agreements cannot force the members of a bargaining unit into a multiemployer pension plan.

All of my amendments would bring much-needed accountability and transparency, and I am disappointed a majority of them were not even allowed to be offered on the House floor. Furthermore, the PRO Act would further disrupt our economy, which is in desperate need of full reopening.

Mr. Speaker, today, I stand with small business owners and our workforce, and I oppose this bill.

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Mr. ALLEN. Madam Speaker, I stand here today disappointed but not surprised that my Democratic colleagues and their union boss allies want my home State of Georgia to look just like New York and California.

This is made abundantly clear in the PRO Act where the bill outright bans State right-to-work laws.

I can tell my colleagues one thing: Not on my watch.

Georgia has been a proud right-to-work State since 1947, and it is one of the many reasons workers have prospered. That is why I rise today to offer my straightforward amendment that strikes the ban on right-to-work States.

No American should be forced to pay for representation and political activities that they do not agree with, and that is what will happen if we do not adopt my amendment.

It is a no-brainer: workers should be in control of their earnings and how they spend it. Americans want choice.

I urge my colleagues to support worker choice and vote ``yes'' on my amendment.

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