The Issues

CDW works tirelessly to combat efforts by unions and their allies – in the White House, in Congress, and at the National Labor Relations Board – to push through hasty and ill-conceived changes to well-established labor law.

Over the past several years, Democratic policymakers have attempted to implement numerous destructive policies, including:

• eliminating secret ballot elections in union organizing campaigns in favor of card check, a notoriously flawed method that exposes workers to intimidation, harassment, and coercion, infringing on their ability to vote their conscience on whether they want union representation in the workplace;
• limiting employees’ access to information on the possible downsides of unionization generally or the specific union trying to organize that workplace;
• attempting to erase “independent contractor” status and force entrepreneurs into “employee” status;
• allowing unions to access workers’ personal information without their consent;
• attacking franchisees, vendors, and subcontractors, because these businesses do not provide the same economies of scale for union organizing as larger corporations; and
• disenfranchising employees who oppose unionization by allowing union organizers to gerrymander bargaining units into “micro-unions.”

Many of these policies are reiterations of the countless rules and decisions pursued and implemented by the Obama administration’s NLRB, which overturned 4,559 years of precedent during its tenure and upended labor relations. Many of them are also included in Congressional Democrats’ Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act (H.R. 20, S. 567), a legislative wishlist of radical policy proposals that would boost unions at the expense of workers, employers, and the economy.

These policies represent an all-out effort by unions and their allies to increase the number of dues-paying union members regardless of the potential consequences. These policies were rejected by the judicial system, opposed on a bipartisan basis in Congress, and/or withdrawn by the federal agencies that prior administrations tried to use to implement the policies unilaterally. All of these entities realized the policies violated the law, exceeded the authority granted to the implementing agencies, or would cause serious damage to the American workplace.

CDW is fighting against these attacks on workers and businesses through litigation, legislation, and the regulatory process and will continue its work to advance policies that protect the rights of employees, foster the American Dream, and strengthen the economy.

• Secret Ballots

  The NLRB is attempting to make it nearly impossible for employees to vote in secret ballot elections when considering whether to unionize the workplace. On August 25, 2023, the National Labor Relations Board issued its decision in Cemex, imposing a new framework that greatly expands the Board’s ability to impose unions on employees without a secret ballot election.

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• Joint Employer

  The NLRB, Biden administration, and Democrats in Congress are working to radically alter the joint-employer standard under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), which is used to determine when two or more entities are jointly responsible for the terms and conditions of employment over the same group of employees.

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• Independent Contractor Status

  Democrats in Congress and on the NLRB are attempting to limit Americans’ ability to work independently. Under their policies, many workers will lose their status as independent contractors and the freedom and flexibility that comes with such status.

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• Protecting the Right to Organize Act

  Congressional Democrats have reintroduced the PRO Act, radical legislation that would violate workers’ free choice and privacy rights, force unions on employees who have voted against such representation, cost millions of American jobs, threaten vital supply chains, and greatly hinder our economy.

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• Micro-Unions

  Democrats on the NLRB and in Congress are attempting to disenfranchise workers of their right to vote on union representation. In December 2022, the NLRB issued its decision in American Steel Construction, reinstating the Obama-era Speciality Healthcare standard, which radically changed how the Board determines the appropriate composition of bargaining units, or the group of employees the union is attempting to organize. Additionally, Democrats in Congress and the president are pushing for passage of the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act (H.R. 842, S. 420, 117th Congress), which would codify similar policy into law.

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• Secondary Boycotts

  On February 28, 2023, Congressional Democrats reintroduced the PRO Act, a bill composed of dozens of provisions that radically rewrite current labor laws. One of the most egregious provisions would rescind all restrictions on secondary boycotts that currently make it unlawful for unions to impose economic injury on neutral third parties that are not involved in an underlying labor dispute.

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• Employee Rights Act

  Republicans in Congress have introduced the Employee Rights Act, which would amend federal labor law to more appropriately align with the modern workforce and economy and protect employees’ individual rights.

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