The PRO Act is Back

The PRO Act is back.

Sen. Bernie Sanders, Ind-VT., the new chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee will reintroduce the Protect the Right to Organize (PRO) Act.

The PRO Act – as you may remember – would make gaining union recognition easier by changing a lot of long-established laws intended to achieve fairness in the union organizing process.

Basically, the PRO Act could codify everything the NLRB and its General Counsel are doing now. Without codification, future NLRBs and General Counsels can (and likely will) undo the anti-employer rules and laws currently being created.

Some low-lights of the PRO Act are making union organizing as easy as possible; mandatory arbitration of the collective bargaining agreement; expansion of joint employer definition, reinstatement of workers before final order finding employer liability; and much more.

Sen. Sanders’ version would even fine employers up to $50,000 for a first offense and $100,000 for subsequent ones.

Sen. Sanders’ PRO Act will pass the Senate HELP Committee via a one-vote majority.

The Senate filibuster rule, though, will then kill the bill.

At this point, it seems the renewed PRO Act is just a “messaging” bill in this Congress. This is good news for employers (for now).

The bad news is that Sanders, and others, continue to live by the motto: “if at first you don’t succeed try, try again.” And it only takes one try to be successful. A slight change in the make up of Congress is all that is needed to codify the PRO Act.