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Floor Speech

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Mr. PETERS. Mr. President, a little over a decade ago, Michigan lawmakers convened a session in the dark of the night. They put padlocks on the doors of the State Capitol so that they wouldn't have to listen to the protesters who had gathered outside.

They had come to Lansing to pass ``right to work,'' a policy that weakened the power of unions all across Michigan. But today--today--my colleagues in the State legislature passed legislation in the State senate to repeal that law, and it now moves to the house next week.

They are stepping up. They are stepping up because they understand that we are living through a crucial moment. The richest Americans are only getting richer, while many working people are left behind, unable to reap the benefits of the wealth that they helped to create.

Labor unions are the best tool that we have to buck that trend. They expand and empower the middle class. They allow workers to negotiate for better wages and safer workplaces and the right to retire with dignity. But union membership is at an alltime low. Many employers intimidate workers who attempt to organize and retaliate against those who are able to come together. It is one reason that the gap between rich and poor continues to grow.

In order to keep building an economy that works for everyone, we need to take a lesson from my home State of Michigan. We need to breathe new life into American unions, and we need to pass the PRO Act. This legislation will empower workers to exercise their right to organize. It will hold employers accountable for violating workers' rights. It will secure free, fair, and safe union elections, and it will preempt right-to-work laws across the country. Simply put, the PRO Act will make it easier for working people everywhere to join a union.

As a Michigander, the right to organize is a pillar of my State. Modern unions were born in Flint, MI, when autoworkers banded together in the winter of 1936 for better pay and working conditions. Their 44- day strike started a movement that formed the backbone of the American middle class.

But this is also very personal to me. My dad was a teacher and a member of the MEA. My father-in-law is a proud member of UAW Local 5960 as a retiree. My mother, a nurse's aide, worked tirelessly with the SEIU to organize her workplace. And when management tried to sway her to not support the union with a raise, she refused. She would not quit. She would not stop her fight until everyone got a better deal and everyone got a raise. And after the employees voted to unionize, they made her a union steward. She taught me the value of standing up and fighting for your rights, no matter what is in your way.

We have seen what is possible when we choose to stand up for working people. We enacted the bipartisan infrastructure deal, which will create good-paying union jobs all across our country and penalize companies that break the labor law. Just over 2 years ago, we passed the Butch Lewis Act and secured pensions for millions of American workers.

These victories have helped people all across our country, and we can build on that work by passing the PRO Act. It is a comprehensive, commonsense piece of legislation that we have to get across the finish line. The namesake of this bill is former AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka, a legend in the labor movement and a tireless advocate for working people.

Just before he died, he addressed a group of Alabama coal miners who were in the throes of a strike, and he told them: We are not going to give up. We are not going to give in. We will prevail. One day longer, one day stronger.

His words ring as true today as they did that night in Brookwood, AL. We are not giving in or giving up, and together we will prevail. I am proud to stand in solidarity with labor unions all across Michigan, as well as all across this country, as a cosponsor of the PRO Act, and I will continue to do everything in my power to see that it gets passed.

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