Protecting the Right to Organize Act of 2019

Floor Speech

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Mr. WALBERG. Mr. Chairman, I thank my good friend from North Carolina for yielding.

I rise today in strong opposition to H.R. 2474, but not necessarily because of some of the reasons that I have heard, though questionable, from my friends on the other side of the aisle.

As the son of a machinist tool and die maker and a former union steelworker myself, I value the time-honored role unions play in our workforce.

I can remember some of the arguments that my dad made for the unions in the steel mills' machine shops where he worked. I also remember many of the arguments he made for unions going above and beyond, in the sense of going too far, for their own protection and not that of the employees.

But any reforms we make to Federal labor laws should put workers first, not union leaders first. When we fail to do that, it opens the door to extravagant abuses of power. Just look at what is happening in Michigan, sadly, with the corruption scandal at the top levels of the UAW.

How can we even entertain a transformational labor law at a time when members of the UAW leadership are under an ongoing Federal investigation for using members' dues to pay for UAW leadership's lavish trips to California featuring poolside villas, top-shelf liquor, fine cigars, golf, and even a $1,200 bill at a Hollywood salon. In our ethics investigations, we would certainly put those to the top of our concerns.

This corruption scandal has already yielded 11 convictions. Two previous UAW presidents have been formally implicated as members of a racketeering enterprise within the union--I hate hearing those words, because those impact union membership and their dues--and the current president, who took over because of the corruption allegations against the former presidents, has come under Federal investigation as well.

We should, instead, be looking into these abuses as our committee rather than turning a blind eye and passing legislation that will, instead, consolidate special interest power to coerce workers by undermining their right to privacy.

Clearly, this bill sends exactly the wrong message at the wrong time. It is not speaking for the hardworking families we represent, the hardworking union members we represent. They deserve better, and that is what this legislation doesn't offer.

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Mr. WALBERG. Mr. Chair, I simply cannot, in good faith, support a bill that undermines basic freedoms for workers and takes our labor laws backwards. Instead, let's put workers' interests first by focusing on protecting and expanding workers' rights within their union.

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