Labor coalition launches midterm campaign for Senate to vote on PRO Act

The Worker Power Coalition, made up of more than 40 unions and progressive organizations representing 24 million workers in the US, has launched a campaign ahead of the 2022 midterm elections to pressure Democratic Senate leaders and US senators from both parties to vote on the Protecting the Right to Organization (PRO) Act. If passed, the PRO bill would represent the largest overhaul of U.S. labor law since the mid-20th century.

the law would banning captive public rallies held by employers to deter union organizing, increasing penalties for employers for violating labor laws, and mandating immediate disclosure of contracts between employers and anti-union advisers. It would also establish mediation and arbitration processes to streamline the path for new unions to land a first contract. (Under the existing circumstances, it is common for employers to delay and postpone the negotiation process with relative impunity. Bloomberg’s Law reported earlier this year, “the average number of days it takes new unionized employers and their newly organized workers to ratify an initial contract has risen to 465 days.” Current U.S. labor laws are based on the National Labor Relations Act, which passed in 1935 and has long viewed by labor experts as broken, outdated and inadequate when it comes to protecting workers’ rights to unionize today.

the law passed in the House of Representatives in March 2021 with five Republicans and all but one Democrat, Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-TX), to vote in support, but it has yet to get a vote in the US Senate.

the law would banning captive public rallies held by employers to deter union organizing, increasing penalties for employers for violating labor laws, and mandating immediate disclosure of contracts between employers and anti-union advisers. It would also establish mediation and arbitration processes to streamline the path for new unions to land a first contract.

sen. Joe Manchin (D-VA) has signaled his support for the PRO bill, while Democratic Senators Kyrsten Sinema and Mark Kelly of Arizona and Senator Mark Warner (D-VA) have refused support the law.

Organizers and employee delegations affiliated with the Worker Power Coalition have met with Senate Democrats in swing states such as Arizona, Colorado, Georgia, New Hampshire and Nevada, and are holding events to pressure Senate Republicans in Ohio, Wisconsin and Florida to show their support to workers by supporting legislation.

In Florida, union organizers unsuccessfully pushed Republican Senators Marco Rubio and Rick Scott to support the legislation. Organizers also named Sen.’s Democratic challenger in November. Rubio, Rep. Val Demmings, supported voted for the PRO Act in the House of Representatives.

“We work with every elected official; we don’t care about political parties. Our concern is common sense legislation that supports working class people trying to live the American dream that we are increasingly seeing escaping, and a major reason for this is elected officials such as Marco Rubio, who, after repeated attempts by over the years, has refused to meet with us,” said Curtis Hierro, the senior Florida legislative and political leader for the Communications Workers of America (CWA). “This is one of the most important pieces of legislation we’ve seen for the labor movement in this generation.”

At the end of July 2022, organizers and workers held a rally in Orlando, Florida, to demand Senator Rubio’s support for the PRO bill for Rubio’s office. They have also held webinars, meetings and political training sessions to educate members about the legislative process.

“We’ve done the job of educating and organizing our union members, to make sure they know that on one side you have Marco Rubio, who has literally been the definition of an elected official with an empty suit ( I think the only thing that fills that suit is corporate money and Wall Street) and is against the agenda of working people,” Hierro added. “Then you have another candidate, Representative Demings, who, when asked to support our union, supports ordinary working people, [has] answered that call.”

On July 13, 2022, union members and organizers held a rally outside Republican Senator Ron Johnson’s office in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, demanding that he stop opposing the PRO bill. They also support his Democratic opponent, Mandela Barnes, in November.

“[It’s] time to take back the state and educate people about the PRO law,” said Clinton Rodgers, an organizer with the CWA in Milwaukee. Rodgers also noted that the PRO Act would “deal a blow to independent ‘right to work’ laws,” such as the… one signed by former Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker in 2015.

“We work with every elected official; we don’t care about political parties. What we care about is common sense legislation that supports working class people trying to live the American dream that we are increasingly seeing escaping.”

Curtis Hierro, senior Florida legislative and political leader for the Communications Workers of America (CWA)

“Right to work” laws allow workers to reap all the benefits of being represented by a union in a workplace without joining or paying union dues, which has eroded the unions’ internal resources (and thus their ability to adequately represent and fight for members) and has contributed to the depletion of union membership in states with the right to work. The PRO law would allow unions to negotiate contracts to ignore “right to work” laws.

“The PRO Act gives employees a voice and [will] to protect strikes and other protests and activities, and [it] will make it illegal for employers to permanently replace striking workers,” Rogers added.

A questionnaire conducted in June 2021 by Hart Research Associates in nine battlefield states — Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, New Hampshire, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Wisconsin, and West Virginia — found overwhelming public support for the PRO law in each of the surveyed states with at least 30 percentage points. According to the survey results, even a majority of voters who identify as Republican support the PRO bill.

“Across the country, corporations and the mega-wealthy are trampling on workers’ rights and our freedom to organize,” said Jimmy Williams Jr., president of the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades, which is part of the Worker Power Coalition. the PRO law. “A vote on the PRO bill will show us who the truly pro-labor members of the US Senate are. It has been a long time since the Senate follows the House lead and passes the PRO bill.”

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