Protecting the Right to Organize Act of 2019
Floor Speech
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Mr. POCAN. Mr. Chair, I insert in the Record a letter from the AFL- CIO. AFL-CIO, January 30, 2020.
Dear Representative: On behalf of the AFL-CIO, I urge you to support the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act, H. R. 2474, and to oppose weakening amendments and any Motion to Recommit when the House of Representatives considers the bill next week. The PRO Act will restore the original intent of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), which was to give working people a voice on the job so they can negotiate for higher wages, better benefits, a more secure retirement and a safer workplace.
For too long, employers have been able to violate the NLRA with impunity, routinely denying workers their basic right to join with coworkers for fairness on the job. As a result, the collective strength of workers to negotiate for better pay and benefits has eroded and income inequality has reached levels that predate the Great Depression. (Please see the attached summary of recent research on unions, inequality and the economy).
The PRO Act would modernize the NLRA by bringing its remedies in line with other workplace laws. In addition to imposing financial penalties on companies and individual corporate officers who violate the law, the bill would give workers the option of bringing their case to federal court. The bill would make elections fairer by prohibiting employers from requiring their employees to attend ``captive audience'' meetings whose sole purpose is to convince workers to vote against the union.
Under the bill, once workers vote to form a union, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) would be authorized to order that the employer commence bargaining a first contract. These orders would be enforced in district courts to ensure swift justice. In addition, the bill would ensure that employees are not deprived of their right to a union because their employer hides behind a subcontractor or other intermediary, or deliberately misclassifies them as supervisors or independent contractors.
Too often, when workers choose to form a union, employers stall the bargaining process to avoid reaching an agreement. The PRO Act would establish a process for mediation and arbitration to help the parties achieve a first contract. This important change would make the freedom to negotiate a reality for countless workers who form unions but never get to enjoy the benefits of a collective bargaining agreement.
The PRO Act recognizes that employees need the freedom to picket or withhold our labor in order to push for the workplace changes we seek. The bill protects employees' right to strike by preventing employers from hiring permanent replacement workers. It also allows unrepresented employees to engage in collective action or class action lawsuits to enforce basic workplace rights, rather than being forced to arbitrate such claims alone.
Finally, the bill would eliminate state right to work laws. These laws have been promoted by a network of billionaires and special interest groups to give more power to corporations at the expense of workers, and have had the effect of lowering wages and eroding pensions and health care coverage in states where they have been adopted.
Restoring our middle class is dependent on strengthening the collective power of workers to negotiate for better pay and working conditions. That is why public support for unions is the highest it has been in decades. We urge you to support the PRO Act and help us build an economy that works for all working families. Sincerely, William Samuel, Director, Government Affairs.
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Mr. POCAN. Mr. Chair, as one of the few union members in Congress, let me tell you that the benefits that workers and families earn from being in a union are significant.
Workers in a union make almost $10,000 more per year, and 70 percent of workers in a union have a pension plan compared to just 13 percent of nonunion workers.
The problem is there have been decades-long coordinated attacks on workers' rights to join or form a union. It is time to make it easier for workers to have a voice in their workplace, and we have got some work to do.
There are laws that make it harder to organize, and employees involved in organizing face barriers, including a one-in-five chance of getting fired. Even when workers do form a union, employers refuse to bargain, and more than half of the unions don't get a collective bargaining agreement within a year.
If you vote to form a union, you should have one and get a contract. If you are an employee, you shouldn't be misclassified as an independent contractor. And if an employer violates your labor rights, they shouldn't be let off the hook.
I am proud to support workers' rights, and I am proud to support the Protecting the Right to Organize Act.
Ms. FOXX of North Carolina. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Timmons).
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