Democrats push making labor organizing a 'civil right'

Reps. Keith Ellison, D-Minn., and John Lewis, D-Ga., plan to introduce legislation Wednesday to amend the National Labor Relations Act to make labor organizing a civil right. The change will make opposing unionization bids legally perilous for businesses.

The NLRA already protects the right to form and join a union. Ellison and Lewis’ legislation would dramatically expand the powers individual workers have under the act by allowing them to sue their employer in federal court under the Civil Rights Act.