Tuesday, April 27, 2021 | 2 a.m.
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In November, American voters made history by electing Joe Biden and Kamala Harris as president and vice president, respectively. In January, voters in Georgia shocked the nation with the elections of Sens. Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock.
Now, with a pro-worker majority in the House, Senate and White House, America’s labor movement can build the power of working people like never before.
The Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act is the most significant worker empowerment legislation since the Great Depression.
If passed, it would dramatically increase penalties for employers that violate workers’ rights; protect strikes and other protest activity; streamline the process for reaching a collective bargaining agreement once a union is formed; and so much more.
The PRO Act was passed by the House in 2020 but stalled when it fell onto former Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s desk. When McConnell rejected the bill, he slapped millions of America’s workers and union members in the face. And it stung.
With the sting of McConnell’s rejection fresh in our minds, we canvassed. We made phone calls. We knocked on doors. And we got it done. That’s why in 2021, the labor movement will do everything in our power to win.
There’s no going back: It’s time for accountability and action. It’s time to pass the PRO Act.
The writer is executive director of the Unified Construction Industry Council.
