Senator Murray Applauds House Passage of the PRO Act, Urges Senate Action

Senator Murray: “As workers continue to bear the brunt of this pandemic, ensuring they can stand together and fight for better pay, quality health care, a safer workplace, and a secure retirement has never been more important.”

(Washington, D.C.) – Chair Patty Murray (D-WA), Chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, released the following statement on House passage of her Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act, which she re-introduced in the Senate in February. The PRO Act would reverse years of attacks on unions and restore fairness to the economy by strengthening the federal laws that protect workers’ right to join a union and bargain collectively.

“In order to address rising income inequality and build back an economy that works for everyone—not just those on top—we need to safeguard workers’ fundamental right to join a union and demand a fair share of the economic growth they drive. As workers continue to bear the brunt of this pandemic, ensuring they can stand together and fight for better pay, quality health care, a safer workplace, and a secure retirement has never been more important.

“That’s exactly what the PRO Act will accomplish and I’m glad to see the House pass this important bill. I will continue to fight hard to make sure we honor the essential workers that have kept us going during this pandemic by getting the PRO Act across the finish line.”

The PRO Act would protect the right to organize and collectively bargain by:

• Bolstering remedies and punishing violations of workers’ rights through authorizing meaningful penalties for employers that violate workers’ rights, strengthening support for workers who suffer retaliation for exercising their rights, and authorizing a private right of action for violation of workers’ rights.
• Strengthening workers’ right to join together and negotiate for better working conditions by enhancing workers’ right to support secondary boycotts, ensuring workers can collect “fair share” fees, modernizing the union election process, and facilitating initial collective bargaining agreements.
• Restoring fairness to an economy rigged against workers by closing loopholes that allow employers to misclassify their employees as supervisors and independent contractors and increasing transparency in labor-management relations.

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