Reject PRO Act Legislation

Editor's note:Since this essay ran in print, the measured has been rolled into another piece of federal legislation, Build Back Better.

Granite State businesses are rebounding from the fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic—at least those that have been able to avoid closing. Yet, while facing hiring challenges and skyrocketing inflation, members of Congress, including the NH delegation, are pushing to rewrite federal labor law in ways that would fundamentally restructure workplaces, undermine the strength of local businesses, infringe on workers’ rights and privacy, and threaten to derail overall economic recovery.

Here’s the state of play: Legislation in the U.S. Senate known as the “Protecting the Right to Organize Act” (PRO Act) would make several sweeping changes to U.S. labor law under the false pretense of protecting workers’ right to organize into collective bargaining units—a right that already exists. In reality, this bill is less about advancing workers’ rights and more about consolidating and growing the power of unions to force unionization onto employees.

That’s why PRO Act supporters, knowing this unpopular bill cannot pass on its own, have slipped several of its worst provisions into the budget reconciliation bill currently moving through Congress. It’s vital that NH’s two U.S. senators fairly represent their constituents by rejecting the PRO Act, either as a whole bill or piecemeal through other legislative vehicles like the budget.

The most immediate threat to Granite State businesses are the provisions being pushed via the budget reconciliation process. These include egregiously punitive penalties ($50,000 to $100,000) for even the most minor and incidental infractions against the National Labor Relations Act. This means individual business, threatened with tens, hundreds or even millions of dollars in fines by a union for unintentional, administrative infractions, can have the thumbscrews put to them by unions.

As to the PRO Act itself, it would be terrible for the workers it’s supposed to help. Not only does it take away a worker’s right to a secret ballot when voting whether or not to unionize—an obvious tactic designed to pressure workers into voting for unionization—it also would violate workers’ privacy by mandating employers turn over the personal contact information of their employees to union officials. This will open the door to harassment of workers and their families. What’s worse, workers would have no way to provide consent or opt out of this requirement.

Hurting Businesses
For NH businesses, the PRO Act would be a logistical nightmare. It would give unions a nearly unlimited ability to impose economic harm on local businesses, vastly expanding and authorizing “secondary boycotts.” Essentially, this means unions could launch highly disruptive protests and pickets against any NH employer, even those that have nothing to do with their labor dispute. Additionally, if workers vote to unionize and labor contract negotiations last longer than four months, the PRO Act will allow a government arbitrator to step in and impose union contracts on employers and employees alike, with neither party having much say.

Throughout the pandemic, independent contracting and freelance work has become a vital source of income for thousands of Granite Staters, particularly in the gig economy. The PRO Act would undermine the strength of this growing sector by imposing an overly stringent set of requirements to determine whether a worker is an independent contractor or full-time employee. In doing so, it would become significantly more difficult to qualify as the former, restricting the freedom and flexibility many gig economy workers now enjoy.

All these changes would be harmful to local businesses and workers even in the best of times. During the middle of a global pandemic, this legislation could be economically disastrous. The PRO Act tries to solve a problem that does not exist in our state, but it would certainly create many new ones. The Business and Industry Association of NH hopes our senators will rethink their support for the PRO Act and help protect local businesses, workers and the economic strength of NH by working against its passage, whether as a standalone bill or as part of the reconciliation package.

David Juvet is interim president and senior vice president of public policy for the Business and Industry Association, NH’s statewide chamber of commerce. For more information, visit biaofnh.com.