Protecting the Right to Organize Act of 2019

Floor Speech

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Mrs. HAYES. Mr. Chair, I rise to offer an amendment to preserve the ability for new, voluntarily recognized unions to collectively bargain for a reasonable period of time without the threat of an invited decertification campaign.

I include in the Record a letter from the National Education Association in support of the PRO Act. National Education Association, Washington, DC, February 6, 2020. House of Representatives, Washington, DC.

Dear Representative: On behalf of the 3 million members of the National Education Association who work in schools and on college campuses in 14,000 communities, we urge you to vote YES on the Protect the Right to Organize Act (H.R. 2474). Votes associated with this issue may be included in NEA's Report Card for the 116th Congress.

Collective bargaining is crucial in providing working people with a voice in the workplace and a means for improving their families' financial circumstances. The freedom to collectively bargain, in both the public and the private sectors, helps reduce income inequality and assists low- and middle-income workers in sharing in economic growth. However, according to Bureau of Labor statistics, only 6.2 percent of workers in the private sector were union members in 2019. Employers' hostility to union organizing is largely to blame for the declining number of private-sector union members. This negatively affects working families and our nation's economic viability. The PRO Act will take several steps to reduce the barriers to private-sector union organizing, including:

Revising the definition of ``employee'' and ``supervisor'' to prevent employers from classifying employees as exempt from labor law protections;

Expanding unfair labor practices to include prohibitions against replacement of or discrimination against workers who participate in strikes;

Making it an unfair labor practice to require or coerce employees to attend employer meetings designed to discourage union membership an unfair labor practice; and

Allowing injunctions against employers engaging in unfair labor practices involving discharge or serious economic harm to an employee.

All working families deserve financial stability and the ability to negotiate to improve their circumstances. The right to organize is essential to these, and to our nation's overall economic health. We urge you to vote YES on the PRO Act to help remove barriers to organizing in the private sector. Sincerely, Marc Egan, Director of Government Relations, National Education Association.

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Mrs. HAYES. Mr. Chair, as a union member, I have had the benefits of the organizing and collective bargaining power of WTA, CEA, NEA, and SEIU 1199. But not all people work in fields with a history of unionization. New unions need a chance to bargain with employers and prove they are productive and skilled advocates on behalf of their members.

For over 40 years, the National Labor Relations Board protected the voluntary recognition process by affording a reasonable amount of time for employers and unions to collectively bargain without fear of decertification challenges. That rule balanced the need for stability in labor relations with the right to have an election, while giving the unions a chance to demonstrate effectiveness to its members.

In 2007, the Bush administration's NLRB scrapped that policy by requiring employers to post a notice inviting a decertification election within a 45-day window, fostering uncertainty among employees, undermining stability in collective bargaining, and encouraging employers to stall at the bargaining table. Although the NLRB rejected this policy in 2011, this administration has proposed to revive it.

Unions need our support now more than ever. In 2018, Connecticut saw a 3.5 percent decline in union membership from the previous year. Due to this administration's attacks following the Janus Supreme Court decision, national union membership is at 10.3 percent, down from 20.1 percent from the first year data was collected in 1983.

We should not be proposing new rules meant to antagonize and intimidate newly formed unions or new workers advocating for their constitutional right to organize. We should be giving new unions the tools they need to succeed.

A nonunionized workforce means lower wages, poorer working conditions, and reduced benefits. It means working at risk of exploitation. It means a workforce left with no tools to advocate for themselves in the workplace.

The PRO Act will strengthen unions formed over a century ago and those formed today. It will bolster the power of workers and the middle class by giving labor law teeth to prevent intimidation and retaliation. It will strengthen Connecticut workers' rights to collectively bargain on behalf of their members. And it will put a stop to the blatant attacks from employers and State legislatures.

Mr. Chair, I stand with my union brothers and sisters at all stages of the unionization process.

Mr. Chair, I urge my colleagues to support my amendment ensuring new unions are given the chance to organize without a rushed threat of decertification.

Ms. FOXX of North Carolina. Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to the amendment.

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Mrs. HAYES. Mr. Chair, first, the PRO Act does not require employees to recognize unions without first having an election. Rather, the right of an employer to voluntarily recognize a union has been the law of this land since 1935, when the National Labor Relations Act was enacted.

Voluntary recognition happens with demonstrated majority support from members by petition or union authorization cards.

Again, voluntary recognition happens with demonstrated majority support from members by petition or union authorization cards.

The PRO Act simply strengthens employees' right to a free and fair election by establishing more effective remedies when an employer unlawfully interferes with an election.

Second, my amendment does not undermine the right to have an election. It codifies a period of time during which a union and an employer can focus on bargaining an agreement and allows workers to exercise their constitutional right to collectively bargain. It prevents wasteful delay tactics so both parties can get to the negotiating table.

If we are going to protect the practice of collective bargaining, we need to ensure there is a reasonable time period for the union to represent employees and bargain on their behalf without fighting over other challenges.

This time period only begins after the employees have demonstrated a majority want to have a union. It does not stop employees from seeking an election after a reasonable time of 1 year, provided it does not interfere with other existing NLRB policies.

The reality is union membership is declining because of the continued attacks on working-class Americans. Our workers are losing a seat at the table in their own workplaces. They need us to defend their rights and ensure they have a fair shot at negotiation.

Mr. Chair, I urge my colleagues to stand up for unions and support this amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. FOXX of North Carolina. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself the balance of my time.

Mr. Chairman, union membership is plummeting because American workers have realized that they don't need the unions. We are seeing such a prosperous economy. And as I said, union membership declining is correlated with the fact that our economy is booming for the middle class.

The PRO Act, Mr. Chairman, is one of the most antiworker and anti- small 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.

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.

With this bill, the unions are trying to take a shortcut. They have decided it is better to just focus on getting Democrats to do their work for them.

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, along with the great economy that we have.

Yet, rather than correct their own wrongdoing and increase their ranks by serving workers better, unions are demanding their allies in Congress enact this sweeping, radical bill that includes over 50 harmful provisions, including those which eliminate workers' privacy, forces workers to pay a labor union against their will, subjects workers and small businesses to direct union harassment, and will kill thousands of small businesses and good-paying jobs.

Mr. Chair, I urge my colleagues to oppose this antiworker, pro-union boss amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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