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Yesterday, Congresswoman Frederica S. Wilson (FL-24) joined a bipartisan group of House and Senate Members to introduce the Richard L. Trumka Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act of 2023(H.R. 20), a comprehensive proposal to protect workers’ right to come together and bargain for higher wages, better benefits, and safer workplaces.
Large corporations and the wealthy continue to capture the rewards of a growing economy while working families and middle-class Americans are left behind. From 1979 to 2020, annual wages for the bottom 90 percent of households increased just 26 percent, while average incomes for the wealthiest 1 percent increased more than 160 percent.
Unions are critical to growing a strong middle class and creating an economy that rewards hardworking people. Studies show that union members earn on average 10 percent more than those with similar education, occupation, and experience in a non-union workplace.
Public support for labor unions is also surging. According to a 2022 Gallup poll, 71 percent of Americans approve of labor unions—the highest that Gallup has recorded since 1965. Despite growing support for unions, decades of anti-union attacks have made it harder for workers to organize. Union membership as fallen to a new low of 10.1 percent in 2022. The PRO Act restores fairness to the economy by strengthening the federal law that protect workers’ right to join a union and bargain for higher pay, better benefits, and safer workplaces.
“For decades, unions have been at the center of nationwide movements for better wages and safer working conditions for all workers. Time and time again, unions have proven they are a vital pillar in holding employers accountable and ensuring American workers are empowered to exercise their right to organize. I am proud to join my colleagues in introducing the bipartisan Pro Act— the most significant upgrade to U.S. labor laws in 80 years,” stated Congresswoman Wilson. “At a time in which corporate profits are still soaring, while most Americans work too hard for too little, the PRO Act strengthens workers’ power to organize and negotiate for a fair share of the profits they produce. This bold proposal will protect and strengthen the basic right of American workers to stand together and negotiate for high wages, better benefits, and safer working conditions.”
The PRO Act protects the basic right to join a union by:
- Holding employers accountable for violating workers’ rights by authorizing meaningful penalties, facilitating initial collective bargaining agreements, and closing loopholes that allow employers to misclassify their employees as supervisors and independent contractors.
- Empowering workers to exercise their right to organize by strengthening support for workers who suffer retaliation for exercising their rights, protecting workers’ right to support secondary boycotts, ensuring workers can collect “fair share” fees, and authorizing a private right of action for violation of workers’ rights.
- Securing free, fair, and safe union elections by preventing employers from interfering in union elections, prohibiting captive audience meetings, and requiring employers to be transparent with their workers.
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