Congress Introduces PRO Act, IATSE Commends Bill as Most Significant Labor Reforms Since Depression

WASHINGTON  D.C. — In November, working people across the country went to the polls to demand an economy that works for them. By re-introducing the Protect the Right to Organize (PRO) Act Thursday, we commend Congress for taking a key step to following through on that demand.

The PRO Act would be the most significant worker empowerment legislation passed since the Great Depression, would help level the playing field in an economy pillaged by inequality and anti-worker legislation, and would make the freedom to negotiate collectively a reality for 60 million American workers.

By strengthening workplace protections for millions of workers, this redress would directly enhance our ability to negotiate for higher wages and better benefits for our Sisters, Brothers, and Kin and their families.

The PRO Act would:

• Establish a mediation process to help management and labor find common ground
• Give the National Labor Relations Board authority to order employers to negotiate in good faith with their workers and enforce penalties to prevent union-busting or deliberately misclassification by bad actors.
• Eliminate the “right-to-work” (for less) laws of the Jim Crow Era that enable free riders
• Ban compulsory “captive audience meetings” and use of intimidation as a union-busting tactic
• Protect the right to strike and make it illegal for bosses to fire and replace workers who walk off the job to protest for better conditions.
  
  

The passage of the PRO Act is an important step to rebuilding the American working class, not just from the policy failures of the last few decades, but also the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. This crisis has shown the importance of having a voice in the workplace, and support for labor unions is at historic highs.

The IATSE urges the House and Senate to pass this bill and help us build an economy that works for all working families.