Posts tagged Rick Allen
How did $1.2M in PPP loans get to Pennsylvania unions? Congressional Republicans want to know
April 18, 2022 // The PPP loans were made quickly by the Small Business Administration in the early days of the pandemic to avoid mass layoffs. Yet the speed in which $800 billion of taxpayer money was doled out left the program liable to waste, fraud, and abuse. An NBC News investigation estimated the cost of fraud at $80 billion, or 10% of the overall fund. That’s in addition to a $900 billion COVID-19 relief fund that may have been defrauded of $90 billion-$400 billion.
The Employee Rights Act Puts American Workers, Not Union Bosses, in the Driver’s Seat
April 13, 2022 // The Employee Rights Act contains several other provisions to protect workers from union intimidation. The bill criminalizes union threats in the workplace and bans unions from using personal employee data for anything unrelated to campaigns, taking Big Labor’s most aggressive and unethical tactics off the table. The bill also prohibits union “salting,” a tactic where a union pays an individual to apply for a job within a company that has not yet been unionized. Instead of becoming a productive employee, the “salt” is there to organize a union and be Big Labor’s mole on the inside.
Contesting the PRO Act’s Coercive Vision
April 1, 2022 // The Employee Rights Act presents a firm contrast with the vision outlined in the PRO Act and supported by Big Labor and its allies in Congress and the Biden administration. Where the PRO Act increases union financial coercion of workers to aid its political allies, the ERA reduces it. Where the PRO Act infringes on workers’ informed consent on union formation, the ERA protects it. Where the PRO Act limits worker privacy, the ERA expands it. Where the PRO Act fails to provide financial transparency and scrutiny in union operations, the ERA provides it. And where the PRO Act endorses Big Labor’s every-job-a-factory-job vision, the ERA promotes modern understandings of compensation and flexibility in working arrangements.
The Employee Rights Act Puts Workers Ahead of Unions
March 25, 2022 // For most Americans, labor laws — like labor unions — are an afterthought. Just 6 percent of private sector workers are union members. However, labor law makes an enormous impact on union and nonunion workplaces alike. Therefore, the ERA improves protections for workers in a variety of situations: those who might become subject to a unionization drive, those already represented by a union, and those who do not wish to unionize.
Members of Congress Defend Independent Workers Mackinac Center and Institute for the American Worker assist with brief supporting independent workers
February 12, 2022 // “The NLRB is stepping outside its authority to make it more difficult for entrepreneurs to work for themselves and support their families,” said F. Vincent Vernuccio, president of the Institute for the American Worker and senior labor policy adviser for the Mackinac Center. “Reclassifying them as employees would bring added bureaucracy for employers and less flexibility for workers who value the opportunity to be their own boss.”
I4AW, Mackinac Center Laud RSC Chairman Banks, Rep. Allen, Rep. Foxx and other Lawmakers for Defending the Rights of Independent Workers
February 11, 2022 // “The NLRB is stepping outside its authority to make it more difficult for entrepreneurs to work for themselves and support their families,” said F. Vincent Vernuccio, president of Institute for the American Worker and senior labor policy adviser for the Mackinac Center. “Reclassifying them as employees would bring added bureaucracy for employers and less flexibility for workers who value the opportunity to be their own boss.”
Ranking Member Foxx, RSC Chairman Banks, Rep. Allen Lead Amicus Brief Supporting Independent Contractors
February 10, 2022 // Ranking Member Virginia Foxx (R-NC), RSC Chairman Jim Banks (R-IN), and Rep. Rick Allen (R-GA) led a group of House Republicans in filing an amicus brief to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) in The Atlanta Opera, Inc. 371 NLRB No. 45 (2021). This case comes as the Democrat-controlled NLRB is set to consider upending established precedent on classifying independent contractors. The brief argues that the standard for classifying independent contractors, which emphasizes the importance of entrepreneurial activity, must be upheld and that changes under the National Labor Relations Act must come through Congress.