STRENGTHEN LABOR UNIONS

What is Biden's The PRO Act?.... [taylorenglish.com]

Many of these provisions were proposed by the Obama Administration but were stalled by the Republican Darth Vader McConnell's negativity firewall from 2008 to 2016

1. Card Check - Allow workers to choose to form a union if a majority of employees signed union authorization cards

2. Reclassify Independent Contractors Expand the protections by adopting stricter criteria to classify a worker as an independent contractor

3. Joint Employer Definition - Redefine “joint employer” to include separate companies that do not have direct control over employees, but do have indirect control or even the mere potential to control those employees

4. Micro-Unit Elections - Allow the return of a smaller subset of a larger workforce (called a “micro-unit ” )

5. Rapid Election Timetables - Include shortened election timelines into law

6. Ban on Employer “Captive Audience” - Ban employers hold mandatory meetings with employees, often referred to as “captive audience speeches, effectively eliminating an employer’s ability to communicate with its employees about the union election

7. Mandatory Arbitration of Initial Collective Bargaining Agreements - Require the employer and union to engage in mediation. If mediation fails, FMCS would refer the parties to “interest arbitration,” often referred to as “baseball arbitration” or “final offer arbitration.”

8. Expanded Right to Strike - Make frequent or short duration strikes lawful and prevent an employer from hiring permanent strike replacements. Permit secondary boycott activity (presently illegal). This activity includes strikes or picketing of an employer with which the union does not have a labor dispute that is intended to induce that employer to cease doing business with another employer with which the union does have a labor dispute.

9. Ban Right to Work Laws - More than one-half of all states have a right to work law, which prohibits an agreement between an employer and a union that requires employees to pay dues to a union as a condition of employment. The PRO Act would supersede these laws and permit union membership to be a condition of employment in all 50 states.

10. Increased Penalties - Create personal liability for corporate officers and directors as a remedy if an employer is found to have violated federal labor relations law. Expand potential liability to include consequential damages, punitive damages, and fines that the NLRB presently does not have the authority to impose. Authorize individuals and unions to sue employers in federal court for violations instead of limiting the matters to the jurisdiction of the NLRB and allows a successful plaintiff to be awarded attorney’s fees. Also enact legislation to hold company executives personally liable when they interfere with organizing efforts, including criminally liable when their interference is intentional.

11. Persuader Reporting - Require employers to report the identity and compensation of a lawyer or consultant (called a “persuader ” ) to help combat union organizing. These persuader regulations are intended to discourage lawyers and consultants from helping employers fight unions.

IN ADDITION - Biden will “create a cabinet-level working group that includes representatives from labor [that] will deliver a plan to dramatically increase union density and address economic inequality” in the first 100 days of his Administration.