U.S. House Will Vote On Union-Supported Pro Act This Month

According to MSCI’s partners at the Coalition for a Democratic Workplace (CDW), lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives will vote on H.R. 2474, the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act later this month. As Connecting the Dots reported last week, in September the U.S. House Education and Labor Committee voted 26-21 to advance the bill out of committee. (The vote was split along partisan lines.)

This legislation would codify the Obama-era joint-employer standard into law, force union representation without an election and change requirements for independent contractor status. According to the National Association of Manufacturers, the PRO Act also includes provisions that would eliminate “right-to-work” protections for workers across the country (the 27 states that have already passed right-to-work laws would be impacted) and could interfere with attorney-client confidentiality and make it harder for businesses to secure important legal advice on matters involving complex labor law.

If MSCI member companies are interested in weighing in against this legislation, the CDW, which MSCI is a member of, has created a grassroots portal to do so. The CDW also has created a grassroots toolkit to help interested parties understand the provisions of the bill. The toolkit includes a video explaining the legislation and a leave-behind for any meetings with members of Congress.

The coalition also plans to resend to lawmakers its June 17 letter with 147 organization opposing the bill. If MSCI members are interested in adding their company’s name to the new letter, please contact CDW at cdwreply@abc.org by October 10. MSCI signed on to the June letter, which is available here.