Posts tagged PRO Act
Opinion: Congress Must Oppose Big Labor’s “PRO Act” Power Grab
March 14, 2025 // In the 2024 election cycle, labor unions gave nearly 90 percent of their political donations to Democratic Party candidates. For large unions like the National Education Association (NEA), as much as 99 percent of political donations went to Democrats. The PRO Act is a return on investment for the hundreds of millions of dollars that union bosses continue to pour into Democrat coffers.
Construction groups decry PRO Act’s reintroduction
March 13, 2025 // “The reintroduction of the PRO Act displays continued disregard for the livelihoods of small business owners, employees and independent contractors,” said Swearingen. “While Congress has long rejected the PRO Act and its provisions, these legislators continue to pursue failed policies and attack business models and fundamental freedoms that have fueled entrepreneurship, job creation and opportunity for the American worker.”
Marshall mum on Senator Hawley’s Pro-Worker framework
March 11, 2025 // According to Vincent Vernuccio, president of the Institute of the American Worker, the Pro-Worker Framework has been largely lifted straight from the PRO Act. “I mean, now I guess the question is, do you refer to most of these provisions as the PRO Act, or do you refer to them as the Pro Act and the Hawley framework?” Vernuccio said in a phone interview. “Because it looks like Senator (Josh) Hawley from Missouri is copying and pasting a bunch of sections into his new framework.” Vernuccio said only one bill related to this has been introduced so far — the “Faster Labor Contracts Act S.844,” which, among other things, deals with government-imposed contracts by binding arbitration — but the Framework has several other provisions indicating that the concepts are copied and pasted directly from the PRO Act.
Senate confirms Lori Chavez-DeRemer as Labor secretary
March 11, 2025 // “The American people demand and deserve change after four years of economic heartache under the ‘most pro-union administration in American history.’ Unfortunately, Lori Chavez-DeRemer’s record pushing policies that force hardworking Americans into union membership suggests more of the same,” McConnell said. “Most Americans believe joining a union should be a personal choice – not a mandate – which is why more than half the states, including Kentucky, have adopted right-to-work laws.”
Trump’s labor secretary pick Lori Chavez-DeRemer advances to final Senate vote
March 7, 2025 // In a 66-30 vote, 15 Democratic senators signaled support for President Trump’s pick, as Chavez-DeRemer advanced to a final vote on her nomination – which is scheduled to take place on Monday. Democratic Sens. Michael Bennet of Colorado, Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada, Ruben Gallego of Arizona, Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire, John Hickenlooper of Colorado, Tim Kaine of Virginia, Jon Ossoff of Georgia, Gary Peters of Michigan, Jacky Rosen of Nevada, Adam Schiff of California, Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, Elissa Slotkin of Michigan, Mark Warner of Virginia, Raphael Warnock of Georgia and Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island voted in favor of Chavez-DeRemer’s nomination. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) was the only Republican opposed to Trump’s labor pick.
Teamsters’ President O’Brien Shares ‘Inside Baseball’ Into NLRB and PRO Act Machinations in Washington “The PRO Act was going to be used as a political pawn.”
March 6, 2025 // When Williamson goes after Trump for “destroying” the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) by firing Gwynne Wilcox, O’Brien explains the “inside baseball” being played inside Washington, explaining to Williamson how the “PRO Act was going to be used as a political pawn” (by Democrats). O’Brien then explains how the Teamsters are working with Democrats and Republicans to enact a “version” of the PRO Act and how his union avoids using the NLRB.
The Next Wave Commentary: Kim Kavin
March 4, 2025 // In the wave of freelance busting that started with California’s Assembly Bill 5, the method of attack was the reclassification of independent contractors as employees. That method created massive backlash everywhere it was tried, so now, a new method is being tried. That new method is called sectoral organizing. This strategy of freelance busting in multiple states is usually a setup for a nationwide attack against us all. Independent contractors nationwide just learned this the hard way, with California’s Assembly Bill 5 ultimately leading to the introduction of the federal Protecting the Right to Organize Act. The freelance-busting brigade is, once again, doing a test run of its idea in the states, with bigger ambitions on the horizon.
‘Now hold up’: MSNBC host stunned by GOP senators pulling support for Trump nominee
February 9, 2025 // Referring to a report that Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) has claimed he thinks at least 15 GOP senators will not vote to confirm the nominee, Steele made a point about the hypocrisy involved in the confirmation process. With Paul stating Chavez-DeRemer won't get his vote and telling reporters, "I’m the national spokesman and lead author of the right-to-work bill. Her support for the PRO Act, which would not only oppose national right to work but would pre-empt state law on right to work — I think it’s not a good thing," Steele reacted to "The Weekend' co-host Alicia Menedez's reporting.
Hawley Sells Moreno on Government Control of Private Contracts
February 7, 2025 // PunchbowlNews has reported that Senator Bernie Moreno (R-OH) is cosponsoring one of the bills based on Senator Josh Hawley’s (R-MO) recently released legislative framework implementing a “new direction” for Republican labor policy, which ironically appears to consist entirely of provisions stolen from Senator Bernie Sanders’ (D-VT) Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act (S 567, HR 20, 118th Congress) and Senator Markey’s bill that brings the warehouse sector under government control and creates a new subagency at the Department of Labor (Warehouse Worker Protection Act, S 5208, 118th Congress). The framework is expected to be broken down into five pieces, and Moreno is reportedly cosponsoring the legislation that would implement government control over management-union contract negotiations. The legislation, the Faster Labor Contracts Act, requires employers and unions to begin negotiating collective bargaining agreements within 10 days after a union wins a representation election and execute their agreement within months
‘We Are Hopeful’ Q&A with Patrice Onwuka and Kim Kavin
January 24, 2025 // Congress should consider enshrining the Trump-era definition for independent contractors, and/or consider ways to get ahead of the opposition to flexible work. The Employee Rights Act was a federal bill that, among many pro-worker provisions, sought to protect independent contractors as a counter to a national ABC Test in the now-defunct Protecting the Right to Organize Act. Portable benefits also provide a pathway for companies to provide independent contractors with workplace benefits without triggering a reclassification.