Federal Spotlight: Iowa Employers Should Keep Close Eye on the Anti-Business Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act

Significant anti-jobs legislation reintroduced this month by federal lawmakers will hurt Iowa businesses and tip the federal labor laws in favor of unions. The Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act is a comprehensive bill that seeks to strip Right to Work laws in Iowa and 26 other states. It would also implement policies such as joint-employer status. Companies would be responsible for violations by their contractors or franchisees, even without possessing or exercising substantial, direct or immediate control over its essential terms and conditions of employment or its employees. It will also be harder to classify workers as independent contractors and it limits worker flexibility. There is also a privacy concern: Iowa employers would have to turn over confidential employee information to unions without their input. All these proposals will harm employer-employee relationships.

ABI key priorities include protecting the right to work and ensuring there are no forced union dues. ABI is a member of the National Association of Manufacturers, which provided this quick reference. This bill passed the House last year, but did not progress beyond that. ABI will continue to monitor this bill and provide members with the latest updates.

View the Coalition for a Democratic Workplace Fact Sheet on the PRO Act.