Backgrounder
Employee Rights Act Backgrounder
The ERA guarantees workers' right to a secret ballot election, ensures they can work directly with their employer if they opt-out of union membership, protects worker privacy, allows workers to choose to fund union politics or not, provides legal clarity for small business owners and independent contractors, and guarantees fair representation for all American workers.
Executive Order: Exclusions from Federal Labor-Management Relations Programs
On March 27, 2025, President Trump issued an Executive Order entitled, “Exclusions from Federal Labor-Management Relations Programs” (“Federal Unions EO”) to end collective bargaining with unions in any Department or agency the President determines, “has as a primary function intelligence, counterintelligence, investigative, or national security work.”
Faster Labor Contracts Act
The Faster Labor Contracts Act would force union contracts on workers and employers—even allowing government bureaucrats with expanded authority to make these important employment decisions for workers in some instances.
Hawley’s PRO Act Lite: Resources Round-up
Whether you are just learning about Sen. Hawley's PRO Act Lite Bill or want to do a deeper dive into its harmful provisions, this roundup of resources will assist your research.
Senator Hawley’s PRO Act Lite
Senator Josh Hawley’s proposed “framework” for reforming America’s private-sector labor law is, in reality, a repackaged and slimmed down version of the radical left’s Protecting the Right to Organize (“PRO”) Act
MERIT Act
The MERIT Act aims to reform the federal civil service system to improve efficiency and accountability. It’s designed to align federal workforce practices more closely with those of the private sector.
Modern Worker Security Act
The Modern Worker Security Act would provide a safe harbor to companies that provide portable benefits to workers, including independent contractors—ensuring these companies would not be classified as an employer simply because they offer these benefits.
Worker Enfranchisement Act
The Worker Enfranchisement Act, introduced by Rep. Bob Onder, amends the National Labor Relations Act to require secret ballots and strong employee participation in workplace union elections.
Union Members Right to Know Act
The “Union Members Right to Know Act” seeks to amend the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959 (LMRDA) to enhance transparency and accountability within labor organizations, ensuring that union members’ rights are well-known and strengthened.
Responsibility in Federal Contracting Act
The Responsibility in Federal Contracting Act would require the locally prevailing wage utilized for purposes of the Davis-Bacon Act be determined by the Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) surveys using random statistical sampling techniques.
Start Applying Labor Transparency (SALT) Act
The Start Applying Labor Transparency (SALT) Act would require deceptive paid union organizers, known as salts, to file the same reporting forms as management hired labor consultants.
Thirty-Two Hour Workweek Act
The Thirty-Two Hour Workweek Act would amend the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) to set 32 hours as a full-time workweek and eight hours as a full day of work, with no loss in pay compared to a worker’s earnings during the current 40-hour workweek.
Worker’s Choice Act
Worker’s Choice would let workers who opt out of a union in a right-to-work state represent themselves before employers. It would also free unions from having to represent nonpaying workers.
Polling Results on Union Salting and Union Elections
The polling questions gauge the public’s opinion on union organizing efforts involving “salts,” which are paid union organizers who apply for jobs at a workplace to organize an employer.
National Labor Relations Board Reform Act
In response to what they view as the weaponizing of the NLRB, a group of Senate Republicans reintroduced legislation to reduce partisanship at board, limit its general counsel, and expedite case resolution.
Principles for Worker Freedom and Opportunity
I4AW and Heritage Foundation are calling on other organizations committed to worker freedom to sign onto the Principles for Worker Freedom and Opportunity.
Stopping Teachers Unions From Damaging Education Needs Today (STUDENT) Act
The STUDENT Act would amend the federal charter granted by Congress in 1906 to the National Education Association.
The PRO Act helps forced unionization while the ERA helps workers
The Protecting the Right to Organize Act helps forced unionization while the Employee Rights Act helps workers. Click to find out the key differences between these two contrasting labor bills.
Resolution to Block Biden ESG Rule
Sen. Mike Braun (R-IN) and Rep. Andy Barr (R-KY) have introduced a resolution to block the Biden Administration’s new Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) rule.
BLS Survey: Union Membership Dropped to Lowest Known Levels in 2022
The Bureau of Labor Statistics released the 2022 Union Members Summary. Union membership in 2022 dropped to the lowest level in the history of BLS’s survey. Read more.
Independent Contracting – Proposed Department of Labor Rule
The Biden Department of Labor (DOL) proposed a new independent contractor rule on October 11, 2022 to address what Secretary Walsh deems “misclassification” of workers.
Polling Results for Employer Meetings on Unionization
I4AW commissioned the bipartisan public affairs firm Forbes Tate Partners to conduct an online survey of 1,000 national likely voters about their views on Employer Meetings on Unionization. Click here to see the results.
Truth in Employment Act
The Truth in Employment Act seeks to target a coercive labor union organizing tactic known as “salting,” when one or more union organizers use deception or harassment to seek employment at a business that they intend to unionize.
Union Integrity Act
The Union Integrity Act amends the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act (LMRDA) to provide whistleblower protections for officers and employees of labor unions.
Nationwide Right to Unionize Act
Congressional Democrats introduced legislation to eliminate the ability of states to protect people from being fired for not paying union fees.
Maximize Americans’ Retirement Security Act
This legislation aims to codify a recently rescinded regulation from the Department of Labor that curtailed the use of pension funds being used for political causes such as ESG.
Potential Railroad Strike
On Friday, September 16, 2022, railroad workers could go on strike. This would effectively shut down the nation’s freight rail system.
Union Wage Provisions in the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022
Senate Democrats have tied Davis-Bacon Act prevailing wage provisions to many of the clean energy tax credit programs in the latest version of their reconciliation bill, the so-called “Inflation Reduction Act of 2022.” See what's inside.
Worker Flexibility and Choice Act
A bipartisan solution was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives that would create new, voluntary “worker flexibility agreements” to protect the ability of independent contractors to maintain their work flexibility and work for multiple companies if they choose.
Labor-Related Amendments to the NDAA
Of the over 1,000 amendments submitted in the House for the annual National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), there are several involving labor policy, largely as it related to federal contractors. Find out more.
No Tax Breaks for Union Busting Act
Senate Democrats are seeking to amend the Internal Revenue Code to reclassify any business expenditures spent on union avoidance activities as “political speech.”
Wage Theft Prevention and Wage Theft Recovery Backgrounder
The Wage Prevention and Wage Recovery Act applies heavy-handed stipulations, stifling costs, is an unwarranted expansion of DOL powers, and grants government policing powers to special interest groups like unions.
Small Businesses Before Bureaucrats Backgrounder
Under this bill, the jurisdictional standard for non-retail businesses would increase from $50,000 to $500,000 and retailers from $500,000 to $5 million.
Blacklisting Federal Contractors
Congressional Democrats have taken a renewed interest in resurrecting a failed Obama-era executive order, “Fair Pay and Safe Workplace (EO 13672),” also known as “Blacklisting.”
Democrats’ Proposed Labor Funding Increases Fall Nearly Flat
After months of delay, Congress finally approved federal funding legislation for fiscal year 2022. Democrats in both chambers, as well as the White House, initially sought massive funding increases for federal labor agencies and programs but Republicans objected.
White House Task Force on Worker Organizing and Empowerment
A report from the White House Task Force on Worker Organizing and Empowerment recommends some 70 actions the federal government can take to increase union membership rather than promote the interests of workers.
America COMPETES Act
The America COMPETES Act, as introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives, is intended to support domestic manufacturing and bolster our critical supply chain. Within the bill, however, are requirements for some federal grant or loan programs that private sector companies must remain neutral to union organizing.
Report
BLS Report Summary: Union Membership Declined in 2021
The 2021 Union Members Summary was released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and states that union membership declined in 2021 by 241,000 members. Click to find out more details.
Ensuring Workers Get PAID Act
This bill would reinstate and make permanent the Department of Labor’s Payroll Audit Independent Determination (PAID) program, which allowed employers to self-audit, report, and correct their potential violations of federal overtime and minimum wage laws.
Labor-Related Items in Reconciliation Bill
UPDATE: On November 19, 2021, the House of Representatives approved a pared-down version of the reconciliation bill, the Build Back Better Act, by a vote of 220-213. Find out what labor handouts are inside the reconciliation bill.
What They Are Saying About David Weil
Find out what labor stakeholders and policy leaders think about DOL Nominee David Weil.
PRO Act Would Hurt Georgia Workers, Take Away Choice
The Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act would allow unions to get workers in Georgia fired for not paying them. Download our state backgrounder to find out how many workers would be affected and how much it would cost them.
PRO Act Would Hurt Virginia Workers, Take Away Choice
The Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act would allow unions to get workers in Virginia fired for not paying them. Download our state backgrounder to find out how many workers would be affected and how much it would cost them.
PRO Act Would Hurt Arizona Workers, Take Away Choice
The Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act would allow unions to get workers in Arizona fired for not paying them. Download our state backgrounder to find out how many workers would be affected and how much it would cost them.
IRS Customer Service Improvement Act
The IRS Customer Service Improvement Act was introduced to refocus IRS employees on performing their jobs to serve the taxpayer rather than performing union work during the busy tax filing season.
PRO Act: Resources Round-Up
Whether you're just learning about the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act or want to do a deep dive into its harmful provisions, this roundup of resources can assist in your research.
Legislation to Ban Neutrality Agreements
Legislation was introduced in the House of Representatives to ban union “neutrality agreements,” which is when a company provides organizing assistance to a union seeking to organize the company’s workers.
Davis-Bacon Repeal Act
The Davis-Bacon Repeal Act would eliminate the Davis-Bacon Act, a law from 1931 requiring workers to be paid the local "prevailing wage" for federally-funded construction contracts worth more than $2,000.
Save Local Business Act
The Save Local Business act would amend the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) and Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) to only consider a business a “joint employer” if it directly, actually, and immediately exercises control over employment decisions, such as the hiring, pay structure, and overall contractual employment of each employee.
Executive Order on Worker Organizing and Empowerment
On April 26, 2021, President Biden signed an executive order establishing the Task Force on Worker Organizing and Empowerment with a mission to “promote worker organizing and collective bargaining in the public and private sectors, and to increase union density.”
POLICY DEBATE: “Sectoral Bargaining: Promise or Peril?”
VIDEO: Institute for the American Worker partners with American Compass in this policy debate on sectoral bargaining in America.
Institute for the American Worker Announces Inaugural Group of Senior Fellows
I4AW is pleased to announce that it has named eight extraordinary labor policy experts to serve as the Institute’s senior fellows.
VIDEO: How the PRO Act Will Harm Workers, Entrepreneurs, and Job Creators
On March 8, 2021, the Institute for the American Worker partnered with Americans for Prosperity and the State Policy Network to host a virtual briefing about the dangers of the PRO Act. Our line-up of speakers tell their stories about how the PRO Act could take away their rights, jeopardize their ability to earn a living, and harm job creators.
EXPLAINER: 12 Ways the PRO Act Will Hurt American Workers
The Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act is making its way through Congress and, if approved, would fundamentally change the US economy and the way Americans work. Find out 12 ways the PRO Act would harm American workers and businesses.
EXPLAINER: What is the Protecting the Right to Organize Act?
The PRO Act would overturn worker freedom throughout the country, stifle independent workers’ ability to support their families, harm small business, and add additional burdens to job creators—among many other troubling provisions.
American Rescue Plan Act- Reconciliation Bill
Congress intends to approve major parts of the Biden Administration’s American Rescue Plan via the budget reconciliation process. Find out more.
BACKGROUNDER: Protecting the Right to Organize Act
The PRO Act would weaken worker freedom and protections, increase regulation of businesses, and strengthen collective bargaining to increase the union share of the workforce.
Emergency Pension Plan Relief (EPPRA) Act
The Emergency Pension Plan Relief (EPPRA) Act would bail out failing multiemployer pension plans and the Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation (PBGC).
VIDEO: The Future of Work and Unions in America
In this webinar, we explore both positive and negative ideas for long-term labor reform; from sectoral bargaining, which would mandate one-size-fits-all wages and benefits across entire industries, to more positive recommendations that would instill flexibility and voluntarism in collective bargaining.
VIDEO: Election Outcomes and Labor Policy in 2021
In this virtual webinar, we explore what the 2020 election outcomes mean for labor policy in the near-term, including insights about what to expect in 2021 from the next Congress, Administration, and State and Local governments.
EVENT: Safeguarding Worker Freedom in 2021 and Beyond
Join the Institute for the American Worker and the Heritage Foundation for a two-part series on the future of labor policy in America on December 9 and 16, 2021.
VIDEO: How Restricting Independent Contracting Hurts Women and their Families
California's Assembly Bill (AB) 5 law has had devastating effects on independent contractors and freelancers- especially impacting women and their families.
Warnings from California, the harms of attacking entrepreneurship and freelancing
Assembly Bill (AB) 5 has had devastating effects on independent contractors and freelancers in the Golden State. Read real stories of Californians whose lives and livelihoods have been turned upside down by AB5.
Worker Flexibility and Small Business Protection Act
Under the Worker Flexibility and Small Business Protection Act, independent contractors would become “employees” within a company’s wage and benefits structure and thus become new targets for union organizing.
Paycheck Fairness Act
UPDATE: The Paycheck Fairness Act seeks to create new federal mandates on employers and employees in a misguided effort to further prohibit pay discrimination.
COVID-19 Every Worker Protection Act
The COVID-19 Every Worker Protection Act requires the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to issue an “Emergency Temporary Standard” and permanent standard to protect some workers from exposure to Coronavirus in some workplaces.
FAMILY Act
The FAMILY Act would create a federal family and medical leave insurance program, a new federal mandate to provide workers with paid family and medical leave.
Fair and Open Competition Act
The Fair and Open Competition Act aims to promote fair competition for federally funded construction projects by requiring neutrality in the bidding process as it relates to Project Labor Agreements.
Labor Provisions in the HEALS Act
Get a breakdown of all the labor provisions included in the Help End Abusive Living Situations (HEALS) Act that will provide help for local businesses and independent contractors.
Secure and Fair Elections for (SAFE) Workers Act
The SAFE Workers Act requires the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to conduct union organizing elections via electronic voting during a federally-declared pandemic.
Helping Gig Economy Workers Act
This legislation would allow companies in the digital marketplace to provide gig economy workers with paid leave, training, PPE, and other assistance during the COVID-19 crisis without penalizing the worker or company or threatening their independent contractor legal status.
Five Pro-worker Policies and Proposals that can Jumpstart the American Economy Amidst COVID-19
Despite the COVID-19 economic downturn, there are simple pro-worker policies that can eliminate unnecessary barriers to entrepreneurship, increase employment, and raise wages without increasing the debt or putting mandates on job creators.
A Closer Look at the Coronavirus Bills: A breakdown of Democrat labor proposals
Throughout the negotiations for the last two coronavirus response bills, several recurring themes have emerged from Congressional Democrats’ priorities in the labor and employment space. Click to read through a summary.
PAID Leave Act
The PAID Leave Act creates several mandates on employers, both during an emergency medical situation and ongoing mandates at all other times.
Union Member Protection Act
The Union Member Protection Act seeks to empower union members with a right to vote on how their union intends to spend their dues for political purposes.
Working Families Flexibility Act
The Working Families Flexibility Act would give workers the choice of accruing additional paid time off or accepting overtime pay when overtime compensation is required from their employer.
Families First Coronavirus Response Act
The Families First Coronavirus Response Act, H.R. 6201, would require employers with fewer than 500 employees to provide employees with up to 12 weeks of paid leave for medical or family care situations related to the coronavirus public health emergency.
Schedules That Work Act
The Schedules That Work Act creates new requirements for employers to provide consistent, inflexible work schedules.
Rehabilitation for Multiemployer Pensions Act
The Rehabilitation for Multiemployer Pensions Act would create the Pension Rehabilitation Administration, a new government loan program for failing multiemployer pension plans.
Respect Graduate Student Workers Act
The Respect Graduate Student Workers Act would grant graduate student teaching and research assistants the right to organize.
Protecting American Jobs Act
The Protecting American Jobs Act would remove adjudication authority from the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).
Modern Worker Empowerment Act
The Modern Worker Empowerment Act seeks to update the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) to better address the current economy and encourage additional growth.
Public Service Freedom to Negotiate Act
The Public Service Freedom to Negotiate Act would overturn public sector state collective bargaining laws in almost every state in the country.
National Right to Work Act
The National Right to Work Act would grant private sector workers the ability to opt-out of a union and prohibit unions from getting workers fired for not paying them.
RAISE Act
Under the RAISE Act, employers could grant merit-based pay raises irrespective of the wage scales within that workplace’s collective bargaining agreement.
Healthy Families Act
Proposed legislation to require paid sick leave for private-sector workers to care for a child, parent, spouse or domestic partner.
Restoring Justice for Workers Act
The Restoring Justice for Workers Act would prohibit arbitration agreements in employment contracts.
Raise the Wage Act
The Raise the Wage Act would increase the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour by 2025 through incremental, annual increases.
Union Transparency and Accountability Act
The Union Transparency and Accountability Act would require labor organizations to provide greater transparency as it relates to union officers’ compensation packages, trust funds, and conflicts of interest, respectively.
Public Safety Employer-Employee Cooperation Act
Requires states and local government to collectively bargain with public safety employees― namely law enforcement officers, firefighters, and EMTs.
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