Protecting the Right to Organize Act of 2019

Floor Speech

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Mr. COURTNEY. Mr. Chair, I rise in support of the Protecting the Right to Organize Act, which is a pro-middle-class measure that, if enacted, would increase incomes, improve benefits, and promote better working conditions for tens of millions of Americans.

The bill essentially debugs all the outdated gaps and loopholes that a cottage industry of unscrupulous lawyers and consultants have exploited over the last 50 years to delay and deny Americans their right to organize for a better standard of living.

The data is crystal clear. The decline of unions since the 1970s has coincided with wage stagnation for the middle class and the skyrocketing wealth of Americans in the top one-tenth of 1 percent, re- creating our new gilded age of outrageous income inequality.

The rights this bill will secure have been internationally recognized as basic human rights in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the United Nations Charter in the wake of World War II and the Vatican in Pope Leo XII's encyclical Rerum Novarum in 1891. The right to organize ``is the natural right,'' Leo wrote, ``and the state has for its office to protect natural rights, not to destroy them.''

Passage of this bill will protect those rights. Please vote ``yes'' for the PRO Act.

Mr. Chairman, I insert in the Record a letter from 2 million members of the Service Employees International Union, signed by its president, Mary Kay Henry, in support of this legislation. SEIU, May 8, 2019.

Dear Representative: On behalf of the 2 million members of the Service Employees International Union (``SEIU''), we write to endorse the Protecting the Right to Organize (``PRO'') Act of 2019. This important bill would strengthen working Americans' rights to join together in unions and bargain for higher wages and better working conditions to help create balanced, inclusive growth.

In today's economy, too many people are working longer hours for lower wages, even as corporate profits soar. Unions are the best solution to leveling the playing field. But because of a concerted effort to undermine unions in America over the past forty years, just 6% of private sector working people have a say in the decisions that affect them at work, in their communities and in our economy. Too many unscrupulous employers take advantage of America's outdated labor laws to stifle the ability of working people to join together in unions to improve their jobs and build a better future for their families.

The PRO Act would reinvigorate labor law to help build an economy that works better for the millions of people who work for a living--not just those at the top. We applaud the bill's joint employer provision, which would ensure that workers can meaningfully bargain with all companies that actually control their employment. We also endorse the bill's new standard to stop employers from misclassifying their workers as independent contractors or supervisors to escape their responsibilities. These changes would make it harder for companies to circumvent basic worker protections through subcontracting arrangements or other evasions.

We also strongly support the PRO Act's reforms banning anti-worker state laws that supersede collective bargaining agreements. These so-called Right-to Work laws weaken workers' voice at the workplace, drive down wages, and threaten the economic security of all workers--union and nonunion alike. Working people subject to these laws earn $1,558 less per year than those who are not. The PRO Act permits companies and workers to decide for themselves whether to negotiate fair share agreements in collective bargaining.

In addition, we are pleased to see PRO Act provisions that would deter employer misconduct by making remedies meaningful, penalizing the most egregious violations, limiting interference in union elections, and facilitating first contracts with newly formed unions. The bill rightfully removes restraints on workers' solidarity actions across different workplaces.

Working people around the country urgently need new laws like the PRO Act to make it easier for people to join unions and hold companies accountable. The PRO Act's much-needed reforms will help level the playing field for people like Jim Staus who testified in support of the PRO Act before House Education and Labor Committee, Health, Employment, Labor and Pensions Subcommittee on May 8, 2019. Although the federal government twice found that University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) illegally fired Jim for trying to form a union, six years later he still has not returned to work at UPMC, nor has he seen a penny of back-pay. If the PRO Act were law, Jim and so many other working people around the country would not have to risk everything to organize their unions to have a seat at the table in determining their families and community's future, the same way their bosses and corporations do.

SEIU members are proud to support the PRO Act. We will add any future votes on this legislation to our legislative scorecard. Sincerely, Mary Kay Henry, International President.

Ms. FOXX of North Carolina. Mr. Chair, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Walberg).

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