Protecting the Right to Organize Act of 2021

Floor Speech

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Mrs. TRAHAN. Mr. Speaker, the aggressive concentration of wealth in corporate boardrooms, the unending attacks on unions and their attempts to organize, and the passage of so-called right-to-work laws, which we now know are really the right-to-deprivation laws, have left America's workers begging for scraps, rather than receiving the fair compensation and full benefits they deserve.

My father was a proud member of the Ironworkers Union. He showed up every day and worked hard, erecting buildings and bridges across New England.

And while he was at work, he knew that his union was fighting to defend him and his brothers and sisters and their families by looking out for our interests at the negotiating table.

It is thanks to the strong benefits and wages secured by his union that my parents were able to provide for my sisters and me.

The PRO Act is about making sure that other families have that same chance. It is about restoring dignity and power to where it belongs: with our workers.

After all, it is our workers who kept us afloat, fed, housed, and safe this last year. For that I urge this bill's passage.

Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record a letter from the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees in support of this bill. AFSCME, Washington, DC, March 8, 2021. House of Representatives, Washington, DC.

Dear Representative: On behalf of the 1.4 million members of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), I urge you to vote Yes on the ``Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act'' (H.R. 842). As the largest public-sector union our members believe that all workers, both private and public sector, deserve the right to organize and bargain collectively to improve their working conditions.

Workers need a voice on the job now more than ever before. Since the beginning of the pandemic, unions have advocated for workers' safety and protections. Nurses, teachers, first responders, bus drivers, grocery store workers and other essential workers were in desperate need of personal protective equipment and the right to use paid leave to self- quarantine or take care of someone who might have been affected, which unions fought for. Unions also helped to prevent layoffs and furloughs to save jobs and win additional premium pay and paid sick time.

The value that unions provide to workers and their families creates a strong middle class that makes the economy work for all Americans. With high unemployment and people struggling to make ends meet, it is important to strengthen workers' rights and the ability to organize. On average, a worker covered by a union contract earns 11.2 percent more in wages than a worker in a nonunion workplace in the same sector. Living wages and benefits with union jobs can lead to job competition with nonunion jobs, helping to strengthen local economies.

The PRO Act strengthens federal laws that protect workers' rights to organize and collectively bargain for wages, paid leave, health insurance, retirement benefits, and workplace protections and safety. The bill increases penalties for employers that violate workers' rights. It strengthens support for workers who suffer retaliation. It prevents employers from misclassifying employees, and it prohibits employers from interfering in union elections.

AFSCME strongly urges Congress to pass the PRO Act to build back our country and to get us out of this economic crisis stronger than before. Sincerely, Bailey K. Childers, Director of Federal Government Affairs.

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