Protecting the Right to Organize Act of 2019
Floor Speech
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Mr. NORCROSS. Mr. Chair, I rise today on an issue very personal to me and to American workers: the Protecting the Right to Organize Act, or the PRO Act.
I am a member of the IBEW for over 40 years and a lifelong labor leader, a proud labor leader. I can attest to the importance of giving workers a voice by protecting them from unfair labor practices.
I saw, firsthand, as workers were unjustly fired, lost their wages, their job, because they dared to speak up about unionization; workers with families back home, living paycheck to paycheck, who couldn't afford to be out of work, but they understood how important this was.
Companies have the money. They hire the $1,000-an-hour lawyers. They delay, they delay, they delay. They would make an example out of one person, as unjust as that is. They put the life of that worker on hold.
Currently, the NLRA has no penalties for employers that do this, that violate the law. If workers are fired, there is no current recourse.
I would just ask that we support the PRO Act.
Mr. Chair, I enter into the Record letters of support from the IBEW, the International Union of Operating Engineers, and the International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers. International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Washington, DC, February 3, 2020. To: All Members of the United States House of Representatives. Re Protecting the Right to Organize Act.
Dear Member of Congress: On behalf of the 775,000 active members and retirees of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW), I urge you to vote in support of H.R. 2474, the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act, when it is considered by the full U.S. House of Representatives this week and to oppose weakening amendments and any Motion to Recommit. The PRO Act would restore the original intent of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) to protect workers' right to organize a union and negotiate higher wages and better benefits.
The right to organize and collectively bargain is a fundamental right of all Americans and the bedrock of a capitalist society that allows the benefits of a growing economy to be shared broadly between workers and employers. These fundamental rights, however, have been steadily undermined in recent decades. As a result, union membership has dropped precipitously from over 20 percent in 1983 to just 10 percent in 2018. During the same period, incomes for the bottom half of income earners in the United States have grown by just one percent between 1980 and 2014, while income for the top one percent increased by 205 percent. Today, income inequality has reached levels that predate the Great Depression.
The reason membership in labor unions is declining is not due to eroding interest in family-sustaining wages and benefits--it is because employers have the upper hand. Workers attempting to unionize often face a hostile legal environment and are commonly intimidated by aggressive anti- union employers. Outdated labor laws have failed to provide Americans with protection from this anti-worker onslaught against collective bargaining.
The Economic Policy Institute published a report in December 2019 that found 41.5 percent of all employers in a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) sponsored election were charged with violating federal labor law. The PRO Act would help even this vastly tilted playing field by invoking stronger remedies for violating the law. Currently, there are no penalties on employers who illegally fire or retaliate against workers attempting to form a union. This legislation establishes compensatory damages for workers and penalties against employers when they fire or retaliate against workers. In addition, the PRO Act streamlines the NLRB process so workers can petition to form a union and get a timely vote without their employer interfering or delaying the vote. It would also prohibit companies from forcing workers to attend mandatory captive audience meetings as a condition of continued employment.
Even if workers do vote for union representation, more than half do not have a collective bargaining agreement a year later. The PRO Act would establish a process for reaching a first agreement when workers organize.
Employers often misclassify workers as supervisors or independent contractors to deprive them of their rights under the NLRA while allowing management to skirt minimum wage, Social Security and workers' compensation laws. The PRO Act tightens the definitions of independent contractor and supervisor to crack down on misclassification and extend NLRA protections to more eligible workers.
Unions provide skills training and continuing education to their membership, as well as a more stable and safer workforce. A worker covered by a union contract earns more than 13 percent more in wages than a peer with similar education, occupation and experience in a non-union workplace in the same sector. Where unions are strong, wages are higher for typical workers--union and nonunion members alike.
Research shows that workers want unions, evidenced by the large gap between the share of workers with union representation--about 12 percent--and the share of workers that would like to have a voice on the job--48 percent. The PRO Act would take a major step forward toward closing that gap.
There is no better path to the middle class than a union job with the security it provides in salary, health benefits and retirement income. Family sustaining middle class jobs are the route to economic security, providing the crucial financial cushion that protect so many families on the edge of economic disaster once a job loss or a medical emergency hits a family. Unions provide economic independence and self- sufficiency, and an expanding middle class is good for the economy and the country.
The IBEW urges all members of the United States House of Representatives to stand with working Americans in every state and community and vote in favor of the PRO Act. Sincerely yours, Lonnie R. Stephenson, International President. ____ International Union of Operating Engineers, Washington, DC, January 31, 2020.
Dear Representative: The International Union of Operating Engineers requests your support for the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act, H.R. 2474, and to oppose any weakening amendments and any Motion to Recommit when the House of Representatives considers the bill. The PRO Act will repair the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) to protect workers and strengthen the fundamental rights of Operating Engineers across the nation.
The International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE) is one of North America's leading construction unions, representing nearly 400,000 hardworking men and women in the United States and Canada. Most members of the IUOE work in the construction sector, operating and maintaining heavy equipment, in addition to other occupations in the industry. We represent heavy equipment operators, mechanics, surveyors, and other occupations in the sector, and, building the nation's public works is the bread and butter of the skilled, proud members of the Operating Engineers union.
The PRO Act would reinforce the federal laws that protect workers' right to organize a union and bargain for better wages, benefits, and conditions at their workplaces. For decades, working families could depend on unions to represent their collective interests and, by encouraging collective bargaining, the NLRA offered protection and empowered workers to seek fairness on the job.
Over the past 50 years, unethical employers have exploited labor laws and routinely denied workers their basic rights. While the collective strength of workers has eroded over time, income inequality has reached levels that predate the Great Depression. It is imperative that Congress protect the rights of workers in order to guarantee a healthy economy.
This legislation addresses several major problems with the current law and tries to level a playing field that is currently stacked against workers. It will penalize employers for interfering in the workers' right to form a union, conduct organizing campaigns, and hold fair elections. It will strengthen their ability to negotiate first contract agreements and notably overrides so-called ``right-to-work'' laws by establishing a ``fair share'' clause. It will ensure workers have a voice on the job by prohibiting employers from permanently replacing strikers and repealing the prohibition on secondary boycotts. In addition, it will protect workers against misclassification--an egregious tactic used in the construction industry to dodge wage and hour standards. The PRO Act would ensure employers are not able to skirt their responsibilities for pay, benefits, and other working conditions.
This legislation will close loopholes in federal laws and increase transparency in labormanagement relations. Without these essential protections, the playing field will remain heavily stacked against workers. Strengthening the collective power of workers will strengthen our economy and restore the American middle class. We urge you to support the PRO Act to defend the dignity of work for all working families.
Thank you for your consideration. Sincerely, James T. Callahan, General President. ____ International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers, Washington, DC, January 31, 2020.
Dear House Members: On behalf of the International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers (BAC), I am writing to express our strong support for the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act, H.R. 2474. The PRO Act is historic legislation that will help level the playing field and help give workers the opportunity to exercise their right to organize a union.
BAC is proud of the relationship that we share with our signatory employers across the United States to provide vital building and construction services to the communities we live in. However, our members, and just as importantly the contractors that hire them, are under assault by unscrupulous corporations and employers that abuse and deny their workers from having a meaningful voice in the workplace. The PRO Act would help address these abuses and provide workers a fair shot at forming a union of their choice to bargain for better wages, benefits, and conditions in the workplace.
Too often, employers intentionally violate the law during organizing campaigns because some of the penalties are so weak that low road employers just view them as a small cost of doing the business of union busting. The PRO act strengthens penalties for such behavior in order to deter employers from interfering with workers' rights.
The PRO Act also clarifies the definition of independent contractor and supervisor to help prevent the misclassification of workers. Misclassification is far too common in construction and other industries and it prevents workers from exercising their rights, getting the pay and benefits they deserve, and deprives communities of much- needed revenue through tax evasion.
Our economy is out of balance and it is time for Congress to step up to protect working class families and restore economic stability. We urge you to support the PRO Act and oppose any weakening amendments when the House of Representatives considers the bill. Sincerely, Timothy J. Driscoll, President.
Ms. FOXX of North Carolina. Mr. Chair, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Keller).
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Mr. NORCROSS. Mr. Chair, I rise to offer a simple amendment to protect the efficiency of the union representation election process by ensuring that preelection hearings before the NLRB are conducted on a day-to-day basis.
The PRO Act strengthens workers' rights to a free and fair union representation election. It does so by preventing unnecessary delays, which allow employers to engage more time against antiunion campaigns that are designed to erode support for the union.
In 2014, the NLRB updated its union election procedures by enacting reasonable deadlines and preventing employers from stalling elections through frivolous litigation. The PRO Act codifies many of these requirements, including the timeliness for pre- and post-election hearings.
One important change in the 2014 election rule was to require that, whenever the NLRB conducts a preelection hearing, the hearing must be held from day to day. Prior to 2014, hearings could either be held day to day or adjourned to a later date. Requiring these hearings to be held day to day provides more certainty in the preelection hearing process that codifies this best practice.
In those cases where the NLRB decides a pre-election hearing is necessary; this amendment ensures efficiency in the NLRB pre-election process and prevents employers from seizing upon unnecessary delays.
Unnecessary delays leading up to a representation election enables employers to have more time to campaign against the union, through lawful, or many times unlawful means. Once the NLRB receives a petition for the union election, it must process the election expeditiously in order for the rights of the workers to be upheld.
Ms. FOXX of North Carolina. Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to the amendment.
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Mr. NORCROSS. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Back on December 18, the Trump NLRB issued a dramatic rewrite of the union election procedures, thus undermining the streamlining efficiency of the original 2014 election rule.
However, even in the NLRB by Trump, the new rule left this requirement for elections to proceed day by day. They believe in efficiency. They believe in doing things the correct way. This just codifies it.
Ms. FOXX of North Carolina. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself the balance of my time.
Mr. Chairman, the PRO Act is one of the most antiworker and antismall business bills to be considered by Congress in decades. It is a liberal Democrat wish list designed to enrich and empower union bosses and trial lawyers at the expense of rank-and-file workers and small businesses, and this amendment makes it worse.
The largest federation of unions in America spends more than three times as much money on politics as it does on its stated purpose of organizing and representing workers. And unions attempted to organize less than one-tenth of 1 percent of eligible workers in 2018, so it should come as no surprise that union membership in the United States is plummeting.
Yet, rather than correct their own wrongdoing and increase their ranks by serving workers better, unions are demanding that Congress enact this sweeping, radical bill that tilts the playing field aggressively in their favor, against workers and small businesses.
I urge my colleagues to oppose this antiworker, pro-union boss amendment.
Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.
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Mr. NORCROSS. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Fake news. Don't believe it.
Just ask the people what they want to do. Close to 80 percent of those in the workplace would vote today to join a union, if they were allowed to under a fair process. That doesn't happen.
Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.
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