PRO Act Passed in the House

March 9 the House of Representatives passed the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act (H.R.842) by a vote of 225–206. Five Republicans voted in favor of the bill, and one Democrat voted against the bill.

If enacted, the bill would:

Invalidate 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

At this time, the legislation is not expected to pass in the Senate, as it would be subject to a filibuster. However, organized labor and many progressive policymakers are calling for the elimination of the filibuster.

Much of the business community, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and IWLA remain opposed to the PRO Act given the harmful impacts it may have on employees, employers, and an economy still trying to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.

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