UAW President Ray Curry Issues Statement on the Need to Pass the Richard L. Trumka Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act

The UAW applauds Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Chairman Bernie Sanders, Leader Jeffries, Ranking Member Bobby Scott, Representative Brian Fitzpatrick, and all original co-sponsors in the re-introduction of the Richard L. Trumka Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act today. 

We wholeheartedly agree with President Biden’s statement on the PRO Act during his recent state of the union address: “I’m so sick and tired of companies breaking the law by preventing workers from organizing. Pass the PRO Act because workers have a right to form a union. And let’s guarantee all workers a living wage.” This vital bipartisan legislation would strengthen workers’ right to collectively bargain for higher wages, better benefits, a safer workplace and a more secure retirement. The UAW calls on Congress to pass the Richard L. Trumka PRO Act so that President Biden can sign it into law.  

Popularity for unions is higher than it’s been in recent memory. According to a recent Gallup poll, 71 percent of Americans say they approve of labor unions. In 2022, more than 60 million workers wanted to join a union but could not. Despite growing support for unions and an uptick in union election petitions across the country, union density has declined over last several decades as anti-worker corporations have gone to great lengths to suppress workers’ rights to form a union. According to the Economic Policy Institute, employers spend nearly $340 million dollars a year to hire union busting firms to help them stop workers from organizing.

For too long, employers have been able to violate the law with little consequence, routinely denying working people their basic right to join with coworkers and have a voice in the workplace. Time and time again, workers have fought for a union only to be met with coercion, retaliation, and intimidation by employers seeking to prevent workers from exercising their fundamental rights such as illegally firing workers, holding captive audience meetings, and threatening to close plants. The PRO Act would address these and other impediments. UAW urges Congress to pass the Richard L. Trumka PRO Act and send it to President Biden’s desk for signature.

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