Majority Of Independent Contractors Anticipate Losing 76 Percent Or More Of Their Business

Washington, D.C. – A new national survey of more than 9,000 small business owners shows serious concern surrounding the economic impact of the labor organizing legislation, Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act, if enacted into law.

The survey conducted by Alignable, an online network of more than six million small business owners, and recently covered by Small Business Trends showed just how significant the impacts of the PRO Act would have on their businesses.

Key findings:

• Seven out of 10 small business owners say the PRO Act would put them out of business or force them to hire fewer workers
• Majority of independent contractors anticipate losing 76 percent or more of their business
• 67 percent of women-owned businesses would lose most of their business, with many saying they are parents who freelance to accommodate children’s schedules
• Nearly half (45 percent) of all small businesses would be forced to shut down, as many depend on hiring freelancers to win business, manage costs and keep companies afloat
• 62 percent of minority-owned businesses said they could suffer major losses

Eric Groves, CEO and co-founder of Alignable, whose company conducted the survey, stated that “If passed, the PRO Act would be a barrier to employment, the overall business recovery, and prosperity, in general. Here are just a few examples of people and businesses that would be hit hard. When it comes right down to it, the PRO Act could threaten the American Dream of owning your own business, while also crippling the small business economy, which is just starting to rebound from COVID’s devastation.”

Kristen Swearingen, Chair of the Coalition for a Democratic Workplace (CDW), composed of more than 600 major business and industry groups representing millions of businesses that employ tens of millions of workers nationwide, said the survey illustrates what its members have been hearing across the country:

“At a time when thousands of small businesses are struggling to keep their doors open and employees retained during the COVID-19 pandemic, this bill would force employers to permanently close and lay off workers,” stated Swearingen. “From taking away independent contracting jobs from moms working at home to stripping vital privacy protections from all Americans to forcing many small businesses to close their doors, the PRO Act would radically change our country’s labor laws and lead to a significant regression in our recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Click here for more information on the negative impacts of the PRO Act.

 

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About The Coalition for a Democratic Workplace

CDW is a broad-based coalition of hundreds of organizations representing hundreds of thousands of employers and millions of employees in various industries across the country concerned with a long-standing effort by some in the labor movement to make radical changes to the National Labor Relations Act without regard to the severely negative impact they would have on employees, employers, and the economy. CDW was originally formed in 2005 in opposition to the so-called Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) – a bill similar to the PRO Act – that would have stripped employees of the right to secret ballots in union representation elections and allowed arbitrators to set contract terms regardless of the consequence to workers or businesses.

 

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