What Is the PRO Act?

Our nation’s labor laws are woefully outdated and have become ineffective as a means for working people to have our voices heard.

But the most significant worker empowerment legislation since the Great Depression is now in the hands of the Senate.

That bill, the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act, is landmark worker empowerment, civil rights and economic stimulus legislation, and an essential part of any plan to build back better from the COVID-19 pandemic and recession.

Town Halls and Roundtables

Video

The PRO Act and Freelancers Town Hall

Video

How the PRO Act Will Help Address Systemic Racism

Video

The PRO Act: A Pathway to the American Dream Roundtable

Video

A Woman's Place Is in Her Union: How the PRO Act Will Help Women Workers

The PRO Act Is the Key to America's Future

The Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act restores the right of workers to freely and fairly form a union and bargain together for changes in the workplace. It is a landmark worker empowerment, civil rights and economic stimulus legislation, and an essential part of any plan to build back better from the COVID-19 pandemic and recession.

The American Dream Hinges on the Collective Strength of Working People

As the collective strength of workers to negotiate for better pay and benefits has eroded, the gap between rich and poor has reached levels not experienced since the Great Depression. The result is an economy that does not work, where the vast majority of the people lack the incomes or the economic security to consume or invest.

More and more of America’s workers want to join a union. A recent study found that nearly half of all nonunion workers—more than 60 million people—would join a union today if given the chance. This shouldn’t come as a surprise. When working people come together in a union, we can negotiate for higher wages, better benefits and working conditions, and we also have a real say in critical workplace issues like time off to care for a loved one, the deployment of technology and protection from all kinds of discrimination.

The National Labor Relations Act Is Broken and Must Be Fixed

Our basic labor law, which is supposed to protect the rights of workers to form a union and bargain collectively, is broken. The National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) of 1935 ushered in a wave of worker organizing that changed the direction of America, building the greatest middle class the world has ever known. Yet ever since its passage, corporations and their political allies have conspired to render the law toothless. In recent decades, employers have been able to violate the NLRA with impunity, routinely denying workers our basic right to join with our co-workers for fairness on the job.

How the PRO Act Will Help Employees Advocate for Improvements at Work

Union-Busting Silences Workers

An entire union-busting industry now works nonstop to block working people from exercising our rights. Today, in more than 40% of all union organizing elections, employers are charged with breaking the law. They lie. They threaten and coerce. They routinely fire union supporters. Workers are forced to attend mandatory meetings with one item on the agenda: union-bashing. These messages of fear and intimidation come from the very people who control our paychecks, how much time we can spend with our families and whether we will have a job tomorrow. And the penalties for employers that engage in this illegal behavior are inconsequential.

How the PRO Act Would’ve Changed the Amazon Organizing Landscape

Unions and Worker Health and Safety

The COVID-19 pandemic has shown once again that belonging to a union can literally be the difference between life and death on the job, especially for workers of color and women who are disproportionately essential workers and have been more likely to lose life, health and employment during the COVID-19 pandemic.