MSCI, Allies Ask U.S. Senators To Oppose The PRO Act

The Metals Service Center Institute (MSCI) joined the Coalition for a Democratic Workplace (CDW) and more than 70 other organizations last week to send a letter to members of the U.S. Senate opposing the PRO Act. U.S. House and Senate lawmakers reintroduced this bill last week. While more than 200 House lawmakers support the legislation, as the letter, which is available at this link, explains, this bill would harm employees and employers alike.

Specifically, the PRO Act would:

• Limit employees’ right to vote for or against union representation via secret ballots;
• Limit employers’ free speech rights, effectively silencing debate on the pros and cons of union representation generally or a particular union at issue;
• Grant the U.S. government unprecedented control over employment contracts in the private sector, crushing workers’ voice in the workplace, violating the U.S. Constitution, and eviscerating voluntary agreement in labor-management relations;
• Effectively allow labor unions to choose a bargaining unit that maximizes its chances of winning a representation election rather than having the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) choose a unit that would promote a functional and stable bargaining relationship and that would not exclude other employees that share similar working conditions, hours, benefits, or supervision simply because they are unlikely to support the union;
• Require employers to give union organizers employees’ personal information without approval from the employees themselves, including home addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, work shifts and locations, and job classifications; and
• Eliminate right-to-work protections across the country, including in the 26 states whose populations and representatives have voted for and implemented such laws. Right-to-work laws allow workers to choose not to pay union dues to a labor organization whose policies and advocacy efforts do not align with their own beliefs and ensure workers can continue to work without being forced to join a union.

The letter concludes by noting the “economic impact of the PRO Act would be catastrophic.” Indeed, an American Action Forum study has found, the bill’s independent worker reclassification provision alone could cost as much as $57 billion nationwide.

Read more about the PRO Act at this link and at this link from the National Association of Manufacturers.