Posts tagged PRO Act
The Cases Against Sectoral Bargaining: The Practical Case
August 11, 2024 // The effect of sectoral bargaining on union corruption would be unclear. Scholars of union corruption have blamed enterprise bargaining combined with union monopoly representation for America’s unusually high levels of labor racketeering. There is truth to this, but it is also not the case that American unions involved in industries with more-sectoral-style approaches are “cleaner.” The New York City garment industry, which was exempted from various Taft-Hartley regulations on union conduct, was believed by the federal government to have been Mob influenced as recently as the 1990s. More recently, the United Auto Workers, which conducts a sort of pseudo-sectoral bargaining with the unionized Detroit Three automakers by “patterning” its contracts, was forced into a regime change after the largest union corruption scandal of the 21st century. Putting more power in the hands of America’s long-standing class of union officials, who are known for having their hands in the cookie jar, certainly is not an obvious approach to reducing or surveilling corruption in organized labor.
Commentary: Beware the Vanilla Slugger
August 8, 2024 // Study after study shows that the vast majority of independent contractors wish to remain as we are. Any government policy that limits our freedom to choose self-employment is a weaponization of regulatory language. It’s trying to force us to become something we do not want to be. It’s plain and simple freelance busting. Unionized employees and independent contractors are equals as Americans. We have the right to choose how we earn a living. Everyone should respect us and our rights, because that’s how we roll here in the land of the free. We’re all about liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
Commentary: Kamala Harris Is Bad News for Gig Workers
August 8, 2024 // Though framed as an overdue deliverance for besieged workers, AB 5 was a gift to labor bosses who dreamed of organizing California gig workers, especially ride-share drivers, and who lusted after the potential dues they could rake in. It was also one of the most-detested laws passed in California in memory. There was no grassroots movement behind AB 5, no uprising among freelancers. It was a top-down scheme fueled by union agitation and then, like so many other lousy public policies hatched in California, unleashed across the country. AB 5’s impact was immediate — and ugly. Workers’ opportunities were narrowed. Many lost their incomes. Businesses faced higher labor costs, and entrepreneurs felt the chill of the dead hand of activist policy-making. The promise of the gig economy, expected to expand globally by roughly 123 percent over the next five years, turned bleak in California. With their businesses in the balance, Uber, Lyft, and DoorDash generously funded a ballot initiative, Proposition 22, that would classify “drivers for app-based transportation (rideshare) and delivery companies as ‘independent contractors,’ not ‘employees.’” Voters approved it overwhelmingly. App-based drivers favored Prop. 22 — four out of five said they were “happy” that it passed, 76 percent said it “benefits me personally,” and 75 percent recommended that lawmakers pass “similar laws in other states so drivers across the country can benefit.”
Podcast: Rich Lowry with guest Vinnie Vernuccio; How Unions Are Failing American Workers
July 31, 2024 // National Review's Rich Lowry is joined by Vinnie Vernuccio, President of the Institute for the American Worker, to discuss how unions have reduced worker freedom, the underhanded tactics unions use to gain power and stifle dissenting voices, how the government enables unions, and how Americans can use free market principles to restore workers' rights and bring about positive labor reform.
WMKT Special Edition Interviews Vinnie Vernuccio: RNC Labor Speech
July 30, 2024 // Vinnie Vernuccio, President and Co-founder of the Institute for the American Worker joins the show to discuss the fallout from Teamsters Union President Sean O'Brien's speech at the RNC convention.
Op-Ed: Big Labor’s GOP Gamble Serves Unions, Not Workers
July 29, 2024 // Rather than reevaluate union practices driving workers away, the same day that Sean delivered his speech at the RNC, the Teamsters hired three high-priced law firms to sue my organization, the Freedom Foundation, for the high crime of contacting his members with an invitation to leave their union.
VP Harris Would Erase Millions of Freelancer Livelihoods
July 29, 2024 // Harris told Randi Weingarten’s group that she, in tandem with President Joe Biden, is committed to Big Labor priorities like the PRO Act. She remarked, “President Joe Biden and I promised to sign the PRO Act into law, and I promise you I will keep that promise. Because when workers join together and demand what is fair, everyone is better off.” Even one Democrat PRO Act holdout and potential VP contender, Senator Mark Kelly, who represents the right-to-work state of Arizona, announced he “switched” his position and will now back this awful bill.
Kamala Harris’s War on American Workers
July 29, 2024 // Harris’s labor policy platform is designed to force every American worker into a union. Big Labor is one of the Democratic Party’s fattest cash cows, spending at least $1.8 billion to elect the Biden-Harris ticket and down ballot Democrats in 2020. The more union dues-paying workers there are, the more money flows into Democratic campaign coffers. The centerpiece of Harris’s plan is banning right-to-work laws, which allow workers to earn a living without being forced into a union as a condition of employment. Right-to-work laws, which protect more than 166 million Americans in 27 states, promote economic growth and prosperity.
COMMENTARY: Kamala’s “PRO Act” Would Ban Right-to-Work and Destroy Independent Contractors Nationwide
July 29, 2024 // The PRO Act is a return on the investment of the hundreds of millions of dollars that Big Labor poured into the Democratic Party’s campaigns to capture the House, Senate, and White House. Employers will be able to force workers into unions as a condition of employment, and union bosses will have access to personal information to bully workers into compliance. Tens of millions of independent contractors would face losing their jobs.
OPINION: Would Harris Be Better than Biden for Independent Contractors?
July 11, 2024 // It’s imperative for the tens of millions of Americans who earn some or all of their income as independent contractors to understand where she stands when it comes to money that is earned through self-employment. The record shows that Harris poses a real threat to independent contractors’ income, and for many of us, to our entire careers.