Legislative Issue: The PRO Act

Boilermaker PRO Act Key Messages and Talk Points

Boilermaker PRO Act Key Messages and Talk Points

Top-lines:

• The PRO (Protecting the Right to Organize) Act is a generational opportunity and the cornerstone of the AFL-CIO’s Workers First Agenda.
• The U.S. House of Representatives passed the PRO Act in 2020, but an anti-worker majority blocked it in the Senate.
• The PRO Act motivated us this past election cycle to mobilize for a pro-worker trifecta in the U.S. House, Senate and White House.
• Working people won a mandate.
• America must support unions and the labor movement by ensuring passage of the PRO Act:
  • Reintroducing the PRO Act, passing it in both chambers of Congress, and getting President Biden's signature will increase worker power, rebuild our economy fairly and grow America’s labor movement.

 

 

Our woefully outdated labor laws are no longer effective as a means for working people to have our voices heard.

• Inequality has skyrocketed because union membership has dwindled and policymakers have failed to pass pro-worker labor laws.
• The stated purpose of the National Labor Relations Act is to encourage collective bargaining, but nearly every amendment to the law—most egregiously the 1947 Taft–Hartley Act—has made it more difficult for workers to form unions. 
• Anti-worker judges also have tried to whittle away what is left of our rights.
• The PRO Act will change the power dynamics in America and give working people a real say in our future.

 

The PRO Act is the most significant worker empowerment legislation since the Great Depression because it will:

• Empower workers to exercise our freedom to organize and bargain. 
• Ensure that workers can reach a first contract quickly after a union is recognized.
• End employers’ practice of punishing striking workers by hiring permanent replacements. Speaking up for labor rights is within every worker’s rights—and workers shouldn’t lose our jobs for it.
• Hold corporations accountable by strengthening the National Labor Relations Board and allowing it to penalize employers who retaliate against working people in support of the union or collective bargaining.
• Repeal “right to work” laws—divisive and racist laws created during the Jim Crow era—that lead to lower wages, fewer benefits and more dangerous workplaces.
• Create pathways for workers to form unions, without fear, in newer industries like Big Tech.

 

The PRO Act will make America’s economy work for working people.

• When union membership is greater, our wages are better.
  • Between 1948 and 1973, when New Deal era laws expanded and enforced collective bargaining, hourly wages rose by more than 90%.
  • But over the next 40 years—from 1973 to 2013—hourly wages rose by just over 9% while productivity increased 74%.
    • As it is, workers are not getting paid a fair share of what we produce.

 

The PRO Act is more than labor law reform, it’s civil rights legislation.

• A union contract is the single best tool we have to close racial and gender wage gaps, and to ensure dignity and due process for workers, regardless of where we were born, who we are or what industry we work in.
• Removing barriers to organizing and bargaining is important for all workers, especially those who have been marginalized.
• Expanding collective bargaining will increase protections for women, people of color, immigrants and the LGBTQ community in areas where our laws are still falling short. 

 

Workers in America favor unions, and tens of millions want to join one.

• Research from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology shows nearly 60 million people would vote to join a union today if given the opportunity.
  • That is nearly half of nonunion workers.
• Union density rose in 2020 amid the deadly COVID-19 pandemic and the failed federal response to it.
• Gallup found that union approval stands at 65%, one of the highest marks in a half-century.

 

This is just the first step of the Workers First Agenda.

• Working people elected pro-worker candidates on Election Day, including the most pro-worker president in recent history. Now we need to win our Workers First Agenda.
• As a candidate, President Biden pledged to sign the PRO Act into law.
  • After he was elected, Biden said, “Unions are going to have increased power.” As the president put it, worker power is “not anti-business. It's about creating economic growth [and] creating good-paying jobs.” 
• Lawmakers gave us their word that the PRO Act would be a top priority. Now it is time for action.
• The PRO Act is how our laws catch up, with workers embracing collective action with a fervor not seen in generations. 

Sample Email

Dear Representative [Last name],

Thank you for taking the time to read my letter. As a constituent, I urge you to pass the PRO Act.

The PRO Act would:

• Empower workers to organize and bargain.
• Hold corporations accountable for union-busting.
• Repeal “right to work” laws, which were created during the Jim Crow era to keep white and Black workers from unionizing together.

Stronger unions mean higher wages, safer working conditions and dignity for all people who work. The PRO Act is our first step to get there.

Sincerely,

[Name, title]

 

Sample Phone Script

Hello, my name is [Name] and I am a Boilermaker with Local Lodge [number] and a resident of [town/city/state].

As a constituent and hard working American, I am calling to urge you to pass the PRO Act.

The PRO Act would:

• Empower workers to organize and bargain.
• Hold corporations accountable for union-busting.
• Repeal “right to work” laws, which were created during the Jim Crow era to keep white and Black workers from unionizing together.

This is important, because stronger unions mean higher wages, safer working conditions and dignity for all people who work. The PRO Act is our first step to get there.

Thank you for taking my call.

 

Example Letters to the Editor

Following are five sample letters to the editor. Choose an option that applies best to your situation and use it as a guide to submit a letter to the editor or opinions desk at your local newspaper.

Option 1

Subject: It's time to hold employers accountable. It's time to pass the PRO Act.

Dear Editor,

In 2020, American heroes in grocery stores, the U.S. Postal Service, hospitals and more became known as “essential workers,” and many of them had to risk their lives by going to work in unsafe conditions. As the coronavirus crisis continues into 2021 and deadly workplace risks remain, there has never been a more important time to give workers more voice and power.

Research shows that nearly 60 million workers would join a labor union if given the opportunity. So why haven’t they?

For years, policymakers, lobbyists and CEOs have stopped at nothing to keep worker power at bay. They weakened the National Labor Relations Act. They attacked collective bargaining rights.

2020 underscored something else, too—how urgently we need labor law reform.

Under current law, the penalties against employers who illegally fire or retaliate against workers who are trying to form a union are a drop in the bucket. As a result, employers routinely retaliate against pro-union workers, because they know it will undermine the organizing campaign and they will face no real consequences. To them, it’s simply the cost of doing business.

For the first time in modern history, however, we have the chance to turn this around. The Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act would hold employers accountable and institute civil penalties for violations of the law, including back pay and damages.

The PRO Act would put the decision of whether or not to form a union back where it belongs—in the hands of workers, free from employer interference.

Sincerely,

[Name, Local Lodge XX, International Brotherhood of Boilermakers]

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Option 2

Subject: No going back: It’s time for a new era in America’s labor movement.

Dear Editor,

With a pro-worker majority in the House, Senate and White House, America’s labor movement has a real chance to build the power of working people like never before.

This raises the question: How?

The answer is with the passage of the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act, 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.

This isn’t just any bill—it’s civil rights legislation, protecting women, immigrants, people of color, the LGBTQ community, and economic stimulus, putting more money in the pockets of workers, which helps our economy build back better. It’s a generational opportunity for the nearly 60 million workers who want to join a union but haven’t found the path to get there under current law.

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 abhorrent 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, America’s 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.

Sincerely,

[Name, Local Lodge XX, International Brotherhood of Boilermakers]

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Option 3

Subject: Let’s be clear: Right to work is wrong. The PRO Act will wipe it off the map.

Dear Editor,

Nearly 60 million people say they would join a union today if they could. The problem? Union-busters, big business and woefully outdated laws continue to undermine the right to collectively bargain.

Just take “right to work” laws, for example. Across the country, anti-worker legislators are relentlessly fighting to pass right to work, which has a more than 70-year track record of lowering wages, reducing benefits and making workplaces more dangerous.

Right to work is a Jim Crow relic that was specifically designed to keep white and Black workers apart, playing on our worst fears to keep working people divided, poor and weak. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. called it a false slogan, designed to rob us of our job rights and our civil rights.

Here are the results: On average, workers in states with right to work laws make nearly $9,000 less per year than workers in states without these laws ($50,174 compared with $59,163).

In 2019, 24% of jobs in right to work states were in low-wage occupations, compared to just 14.5% of jobs in other states.

The rate of workplace deaths is 37% higher in states with right to work laws.

But now we have a chance to put right to work where it belongs—in the trash bin of history, with the poll tax and separate but equal doctrine.

The Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act would override these laws and strike a major victory for civil rights as our country demands racial and economic justice.

The PRO Act was passed by the House last year but was blocked in the Senate. This year, we have another chance to make history. It’s time to pass the PRO Act and end right to work for good.

Sincerely,

[Name, Local Lodge XX, International Brotherhood of Boilermakers]

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Option 4

Subject: It’s time to end the exploitation of platform workers

Dear Editor,

Workers across the country have borne the brunt of our nation's COVID-19 economic fallout for nearly a year. And people who work so-called “gig jobs” for platform companies such as Uber or DoorDash are among the most exposed and vulnerable with very few protections and without a say in the way they do their work. We need to change that.

Uber, DoorDash and other corporate interests like to sell these jobs as flexible and innovative, but in fact they come with few rights and virtually no power. Because workers in these jobs are employees who are often misclassified as independent contractors, they take on the responsibilities of employment without the benefits and protections of being an employee. And with a worldwide pandemic continuing to rage on, those benefits and protections have never been more important.

Unfortunately, under the National Labor Relations Act, independent contractors do not have the right to organize. This means these workers can’t hold corporations accountable should they get sick or injured on the job, nor can they bargain for better pay or safety.

This is why we must pass the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act, worker empowerment legislation that would clarify “gig workers” for these platform companies have bargaining rights.

Working people should have the right to form a union in every sector of the economy.

We are done with the greed of employers—more like robber barons—who feed off of a perverse system that allows them to abuse platform workers and deny them bargaining rights by misclassifying them as independent contractors. Workers deserve better. Workers deserve the PRO Act.

Sincerely,

[Name, Local Lodge XX, International Brotherhood of Boilermakers]

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Option 5

Subject: PRO Act will protect workers on and off the picket line

Dear Editor,

For centuries, workers in unions have used strikes as a leverage tool in our fight for a better workplace. And yet in recent history, an employee’s decision on whether to strike has been unfairly weighed against the potential for disastrous personal consequences. 

While it is legal for a worker to withhold labor, court decisions in recent years have drastically undermined this right by allowing employers to “permanently replace” strikers. In other words, employers frequently retaliate against and fire striking workers.

Just take what happened last year at the Asarco copper mine in Tucson, Arizona, and the refinery in Amarillo, Texas. In their fight for a fair contract, 1,800 union members, represented by a plethora of unions, including United Steelworkers Local 937, went on strike for nearly nine months.

One day out of nowhere, Asarco replaced the striking workers with hundreds of nonunion workers. And now, despite the strike ending, Asarco says, “[u]nion members are entitled to their former or similar positions only as jobs are available.” This disrespectful, and frankly unlawful, statement is a slap in the face to the workers who fought for nearly an entire year in the middle of a worldwide pandemic, for the right to safe and fair working conditions. 

The Protecting the Right to Work (PRO) Act will prohibit employers from permanently replacing strikers. No one—no one—should fear for their livelihoods when going on strike.

Working people deserve a voice on the job, at the bargaining table and on the picket line. It’s time for a change. And it’s past time to pass the PRO Act.

Sincerely,

[Name, Local Lodge XX, International Brotherhood of Boilermakers]