Congressional lawmakers recently debated the National Labor Relations Board's (NLRB)'s policy choices and contrasting legislative proposals that would impact employees' union rights.

At a May 23 hearing with the U.S. House Committee on Education & the Workforce, [KK1] Congress members discussed a pro-union bill called the Richard L. Trumka Protecting the Right to Organize Act (PRO Act), which would:

• Replace secret-ballot union elections with card-check elections.
• Prohibit captive-audience meetings by employers to discuss union activity.
• Prohibit employers from hiring permanent replacements for strikers during an economic strike. Employers already may not use permanent replacements during an unfair labor strike or during a lockout.
• Streamline union election procedures.
• Supersede state-level right-to-work laws that say workers can't be required to join a union or pay union dues as a condition of the job.
  

Lawmakers also discussed the proposed Employee Rights Act, which would:

• Emphasize that workers have a right to secret-ballot union elections.
• Require written permission from workers before an employer shares their personal contact information with a union.
• Prohibit unions from spending dues money on purposes not directly related to representation.
  

The discussion was split along partisan lines, with Democrats voicing concerns about employers' union-busting activities and Republicans primarily worried about unions being too powerful.

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