The PRO Act Would Transform the Playing Field for Labor Labor unions reduce inequality, promote cross-racial solidarity, and boost democratic participation. by Nora De La Cour, Common Dreams, March 23 https://www.commondreams.org/views/2021/03/23/pro-act-would-transform-playing-field-labor . . . "Fortunately, the House just passed a bill that could transform the playing field for unions—and for the many Americans who approve of unions and wish they could join one. The Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act restores the power of the National Labor Relations Act, which explicitly sought to encourage unions, recognizing that collective action by working people is the most effective way to check the parasitic greed and dehumanizing violence of powerful corporations. Here are some things the PRO Act would do:
* Take employers out of the union election process so they can’t gerrymander the bargaining unit; provide a clear remedy when employers interfere in union elections. * Ban “captive audience” meetings and impose heavy fines for these and other unfair labor practices (ULPs). * Require employers to disclose information about third parties they pay for “union avoidance” help. * Enable workers to file civil actions against their employers for NLRA violations; make it possible to hold corporate officials personally liable for these violations. * Require the NLRB to get injunctions to immediately reinstate workers who are fired for organizing. Under current law, this process can take years. * Codify the “ABC test” to crack down on employee misclassification. * Make all employers who control workers’ terms of employment obligated to enter into collective bargaining agreements, so bosses can’t deflect responsibility to other firms. * Override the “right-to-work” laws that hamstring unions and depress wages. * Force employers to follow a clear process for reaching a timely first contract agreement. * Prevent employers from using offensive lockouts or permanently replacing strikers. * Remove restrictions on secondary activities that give workers real economic leverage. These forms of transformative class solidarity are legal in many countries, but are prohibited here under Taft-Hartley and other legislation. * Ban the use of arbitration agreements that ask workers, as a condition of employment, to waive the right to pursue class action against their employers. * Extend protections to undocumented workers, who currently have little recourse when they are damaged by ULPs." . . . The Labor-Rights Legislation That Could Make Medicare for All a Reality The PRO Act will give workers a stronger hand to organize around a bolder political agenda. Natalie Shure, New Republic, April 6, 2021 https://newrepublic.com/article/161943/pro-act-sanders-medicare-for-all?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=tnr_daily "The most monumental pro-labor legislation since the 1930s is a few co-sponsors shy of a majority in the Senate, and it’s tough to overstate what a big deal that is: The Protect the Right to Organize Act promises to largely revert the United States back to the friendlier New Deal era of labor law, before postwar Republican majorities moved to significantly tamp down organized labor with the 1947 Taft-Hartley Act. If passed, the law will make more workers eligible for collective bargaining, make unions easier to organize, limit the power of management to sabotage the process and punish those who do more harshly, deliver speedier contracts, and lend existing unions more muscle. The bill’s ultimate outlook is still a toss-up: While President Biden has affirmed his strong support of the bill, advocates will have to fight hard to clinch the Senate’s five Democratic holdouts, let alone to nuke the filibuster so that 50 votes is enough to carry the day. "Nevertheless, several AFL-CIO unions are pushing hard alongside like-minded groups to win what they deem their top legislative priority, which experts estimate could double union density in the U.S. But the law’s promise goes well beyond unions: By securing the legal framework for a resurgent, militant labor movement, the PRO Act could bring staggeringly ambitious demands like Medicare for All within our collective reach." . . . -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Groups.io Links: You receive all messages sent to this group. View/Reply Online (#7822): https://groups.io/g/marxmail/message/7822 Mute This Topic: https://groups.io/mt/81939367/21656 -=-=- POSTING RULES & NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. -=-=- Group Owner: [email protected] Unsubscribe: https://groups.io/g/marxmail/leave/8674936/21656/1316126222/xyzzy [[email protected]] -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
