Federal Spotlight: Anti-jobs PRO Act Passes House Committee

The U.S. House Education and Labor Committee passed the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act of 2019 on a party-line vote of 26-21 last week. The PRO Act is a comprehensive anti-business rewrite of U.S. labor law. It eliminates state right-to-work laws, allows for “secondary” boycotts of businesses, undermines secret ballot elections for unions, codifies an expansive definition of the joint employer standard and bans employment arbitration agreements, among other items. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has a good summary of the legislation. This bill, which would have negative ramifications for employers across the country, is expected to pass the Democratic led House in the near future. It’s very likely dead on arrival in the Republican held Senate, but there’s also a companion bill in that chamber that has 40 co-sponsors. We’ll continue to follow this issue as Congress moves forward.