U.S. Rep. Lee, colleagues reintroduce bill to protect workers’ right to organize

The bill would add more protections to unions and their elections.

U.S. Rep. Summer Lee, D-Swissvale, announced she and several colleagues reintroduced a bill to improve workers’ rights and their right to organize.

Lee is a member of the U.S. House Committee on Education and the Workforce and she, along with other colleagues, reintroduced the Protecting the Right to Organize Act, a proposal to protect workers’ rights to bargain for higher wages, safer workplaces and better benefits.

“From our hosp ital workers to our steel workers to every other worker in between, everyone deserves the right to organize and fight for better working conditions and better wages,” said Lee in a statement.

According to Lee, from 1979 to 2023, annual wages for the bottom 90% of households increased 44%, while the wages of the top 1% increased by more than 180%.

The initial section of the bill aims to protect workers who have more than two jobs by strengthening a section of the National Labor Relations Act that allows for two or more employers. Under the same section, the bill would prevent employers from misclassifying workers as supervisors or independent contractors.

The bill goes on to prevent employers from permanently replacing employees who strike, a practice that is currently possible by law. The bill also aims to prevent offensive lockouts, which is a practice in which employers prevent workers from coming back to work unless they accept a contract.

The PRO act would also add additional protections to unions and their elections, deterring any interference from employers.