House Passes PRO Act

Yesterday, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 842, the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act, mostly along a party line vote.

The bill includes many of organized labor’s policy goals. IWLA, the US Chamber of Commerce, and other business groups have lobbied against the legislation.

If enacted into law, the bill would:

Annul right to work laws, thereby eliminating workers’ choice to opt of unions and pay union dues

Violate workers’ privacy by requiring employers to overturn their private information, including home and email addresses, to union organizers without consent

Open employers to liability by expanding the standards used to determine when two separate companies are considered “joint employers”

Eliminate the secret ballot, thereby opening the door to card check and union coercion tactics

Curb opportunities for people to work independently through the gig economy by rewriting the standards used to classify a worker as an employee and independent contractor

Impose government control over private contracts and prohibit arbitration agreements in employment contracts

Strip away “secondary boycott” protections that make it unlawful for unions to impose economic injury on neutral third parties uninvolved in labor disputes

The bill is not expected to pass the narrowly controlled Democratic Senate since the legislation is subject to filibuster. IWLA will continue to lobby against passage of the PRO Act.

House Republicans that voted in favor:

Brian Fitzpatrick (PA-1)

John Katko (NY-24)

Chris Smith (NJ-4)

Jeff Van Drew (NJ-2)

Don Young (AK-At Large)

House Democrats that voted against:

Henry Cuellar (TX-28)

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