President’s Remarks Come As U.S. House Of Representatives Prepares To Vote On The PRO Act, Which Would Enable Union Organizers To Intimidate And Threaten Employees

Washington, D.C. – The Coalition for a Democratic Workplace (CDW), composed of hundreds of organizations representing millions of businesses that employ tens of millions of workers nationwide in nearly every industry, released the following statement today in response to President Joe Biden’s remarks yesterday regarding union organizing where he said, “It’s a vitally important choice – one that should be made without intimidation or threats by employers. Every worker should have a free and fair choice to join a union.”

The following statement is attributable to CDW Chair Kristen Swearingen:

“We agree with President Biden that employees should have the choice to join a union without ‘intimidation or threats’ of any kind, but unfortunately the PRO Act, which Democratic leaders in the House are putting to a vote in the coming days, would enable union organizers to deploy intimidation and threatening tactics against workers.

“The PRO Act would force employers to hand over personal contact information of employees to union organizers, even for those employees who have no interest in joining the union. With unfettered access to employees, labor organizers will now have the ability to harass and bully employees. They could show up at their home, spam them on email and even bully them on social media. The PRO Act is incredibly short-sighted, especially given growing concerns regarding privacy in this country.

“In an attempt to increase union membership at any cost, the bill would make radical changes to well-established law, diminish employees’ rights to privacy and association, destroy businesses as they struggle to survive during the pandemic, and threaten entire industries that have fueled innovation, entrepreneurship and job creation.”

“With this legislation, Democratic leadership is attempting to implement Obama-era labor law policies that were rejected by the judicial system and/or opposed on a bipartisan basis in Congress.”

“At a time when thousands of small businesses are struggling to keep their doors open and employees retained during the COVID pandemic, this bill would force businesses to close permanently and lay off workers. Bottomline, hundreds of thousands of Americans could lose their job and important employee rights if the PRO Act becomes law.”

 

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

 

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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