The House voted 224-194 on Thursday to pass a package of pro-union proposals intended to make workplace organizing vastly easier.
The bill, the Protecting the Right to Organize Act, would eliminate all state “right-to-work” laws that prohibit workers from being forced to join a union or financially support one, require employers to give all worker contact information to unions even if the worker objects, and reclassify workers for “gig economy” companies such as Uber and Lyft to make them eligible to be organized, among other major changes.
The legislation reflects the extent to which the Democratic Party has swung toward unapologetic support of organized labor. Bills to roll back right-to-work, for instance, rarely gained traction in previous Congresses. The PRO Act had 218 co-sponsors, only three of whom were Republicans. The legislation is unlikely to be picked up by the Republican-controlled Senate.
Democrats argue the legislation is needed to counter corporate union-busting efforts. Education and Labor Committee Chairman Bobby Scott, a Virginia Democrat and author of the bill, called it the most significant upgrade of labor laws in 80 years.
“It ensures workers can decide whether to form a union without interference. Democracy in the workplace should be a right, not a fight,” Scott said.
Republicans counter that the legislation is little more than a gift to the Democrats’ union allies to boost their declining numbers.
“Democrats are trying to claim, falsely, that the economy isn’t working for average Americans, and the only way to fix it is to expand and force unionism,” said Rep. Virginia Foxx, a North Carolina Republican.
Union support is crucial to Democrats. Labor poured $174 million into the 2018 election cycle alone, $60 million of which went to Democratic candidates and only $10 million to Republicans, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.
AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka on Wednesday told lawmakers they would forfeit union support if they did not back the legislation. “And to those who would oppose, delay, or derail this legislation — do not ask the labor movement for a dollar or a door knock. We won’t be coming,” Trumka tweeted.
Unions are currently struggling to retain members, having dropped to just 10.3% of the workforce, the lowest share since the Labor Department started tracking the figure in 1983.
To counter this trend, the PRO Act includes provisions designed to make it easier for unions to gain and retain members — or just get their money. The legislation’s overriding of state right-to-work laws mean employees in 27 states could find themselves suddenly owing a portion of their paycheck to a union they never wanted to join. Right-to-work critics argue that unions need all the workers’ financial support to represent them in collective bargaining.
The bill would include language intended to prevent employers from classifying workers as contractors instead of employees, a common practice used by tech companies such as Uber and Lyft. The distinction is important because employees are covered by state and federal rules for overtime, minimum wages, and collective bargaining. Contractors, on the other hand, are legally considered separate businesses, so those other rules don’t apply. The PRO Act’s change only covers collective bargaining rights. The provision is similar to legislation California passed last year, Assembly Bill 5, that narrowly defines most workers as employees and that has stirred pushback from independent contractors.
Other provisions in the bill would prohibit employers from requiring workers to attend meetings where they made the case against organizing, prohibit the hiring of replacements for workers who participate in strikes, and make franchiser corporations such as McDonald’s legally responsible for workplace violations by their franchisees, and it ups financial penalties for violations.
