Government affairs

Today, the House Committee on Labor and Education marked up and advanced the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act (H.R. 2474), legislation that would increase protections for workers’ right to organize and bargain for higher wages, better benefits, and safer working conditions. Read more on the bill here.

36 amendments to the bill were considered with all five of the Democratic amendments adopted and all 31 of the Republican amendments defeated, including one from Senior Republican Virginia Foxx (R-SC) to rename the bill the ‘‘Socialist Solutions for Labor Unions Act.”

Beyond Chairman Bobby Scott’s (D-VA) amendment in the nature of a substitute to the bill, the other four amendments that were adopted included language that would:

• Render an employers’ misclassification of employees to be a violation of the National Labor Relations Act
• Permit a labor organization to request to conduct representative elections on or off the work location, via mail ballot, or electronically
• Expand penalties to violations of employee rights beyond those causing serious economic harm, such as threats or refusals to bargain
• Amend the National Labor Relations Act to prohibit employers from engaging in offensive lockouts

The bill currently sits at 210 cosponsors (all Democrats). Should it be brought to the floor for a vote and pass, it will proceed to the Republican-controlled Senate, where it is highly unlikely to be considered.

NALC supports the PRO Act and its advancement marks an important step in improving workers rights across the country.