Two items on big labor’s wishlist have languished for months on end despite having Democratic control of Congress and President Joe Biden in the Oval Office.
The first item on the list, the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act, would upend American labor law to boost cratering union membership. The bill does this by nullifying right-to-work laws nationwide, which prohibit employers from forcing their employees to join a union as a condition of employment. The PRO Act also makes it nearly impossible to work as an independent contractor by codifying California’s ABC test, threatening the 59 million Americans that engage in freelance work.
The PRO Act is live ammunition. The bill passed the House of Representatives last year and has 47 cosponsors in the Senate, all of whom are Democrats. Notably, two Democrats have stayed off the PRO Act so far — Arizona Sens. Mark Kelly and Kyrsten Sinema.
Sinema in particular has attracted national attention for bucking her party when the interests of her constituents differ from the Democratic legislative agenda. Despite pressure from left-wingers that follow her into bathroom stalls, Sinema has a maverick streak that allows her to oppose bad ideas if they are bad for her state.
With the PRO Act on ice for now, Biden has renominated radical academic, David Weil, for wage and hour administrator, the second item on big labor’s wishlist. If confirmed, Weil could implement pieces of the PRO Act by fiat even if the bill never becomes...
Welcome to Reality Check, NewsGuard’s nonpartisan newsletter that tracks the false claims and conspiracy theories that shape our world — and who’s behind them. Please support us by becoming a premi...