E&W Blog

Union membership is at a record low and union membership has declined over the past 60 years.

Despite the growing disillusionment among the American workforce, Committee Democrats re-introduced the PRO Act this week – a radical bill that caters to union leaders and ignores the free-will of workers. If enacted, the PRO Act would force workers into union contracts regardless of what a worker wants. Workers and employers would have their rights trampled. 

The economic damage could also be severe. According to the American Action Forum, if the PRO Act becomes law it would “increase weekly employment costs by anywhere from $21.5–$71.6 billion and put up to $2.6 trillion of gross domestic product at risk.”

So what is this really about? Money, obviously. From 2010-2018, unions sent more than $1.6 billion in member dues to left wing groups like Progressive Democrats of America and Planned Parenthood. Those dues should go towards member representation and collective bargaining, but union leaders spent workers’ hard-earned paychecks on political activism instead.

The PRO Act is also about control. The misguided bill severely infringes on the rights of workers and job creators, leaving them with virtually no recourse to challenge illegal union activities. The PRO Act would allow union leaders to hold elections at locations outside of the business – an unprecedented move that would let union organizers engage in harassment and coercion of workers with virtually no consequences. Employers would also be forced to fork over workers’ private information – like their phone numbers and home address – creating new opportunities for union organizers to track down, harass, or threaten workers.

The PRO Act would also take away a worker’s right to a secret ballot when voting on union representation. Instead, workers would be subjected to a “card check” to publicly record whether they support union certifications – opening workers up to harassment from union organizers if they choose not to unionize.

In addition, the PRO Act would ban state right-to-work laws, which allow workers in those states not to pay any dues or fees to the union if they choose not to.

Job creators would also lose their due process rights related to union organizing efforts. Under the PRO Act, employers would be denied a chance to appear before the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) – in fact, only union leaders could make their case to the NLRB to skew labor disagreements against employers. A post-PRO Act workforce would be riddled with uncertainty and litigation as a result. 

The bottom line? Our economy would suffer greatly as a result, and workers would have fewer opportunities for successful careers while union leaders funnel worker paychecks into left-wing political advocacy. The PRO Act is bad for workers and bad for job creators.