Representative Malinowski Votes to Strengthen Workers’ Rights

(Washington, DC) Today, Representative Malinowski voted to pass the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act, a bipartisan bill that strengthens workers’ rights to negotiate for living wages, better benefits, and safer working conditions. Rep. Malinowski is an original cosponsor of this legislation. All 12 members of New Jersey’s bipartisan congressional delegation voted in favor of the bill.

Wages have been stagnant for years and research consistently shows that workers who have the right to collectively bargain and advocate for themselves earn higher pay, have safer workplaces, and are more likely to have employer-sponsored health care and retirement plans.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of empowering workers to bargain for better wages and safer conditions,” said Rep. Malinowski. “This bill levels the playing field for American workers and is a step forward in creating an economy where everyone can succeed.”

Among other provisions, the PRO Act:

• Introduces meaningful, enforceable penalties for companies and executives that violate workers’ rights;
• Ensures that workers can decide for themselves whether to exercise their right to collectively bargain, and closes loopholes that some corporations use to undermine the rights of workers; and
• Strengthens workers’ rights to free and fair union elections and requires corporations to respect the results.

There are some key distinctions between the PRO Act and various efforts at the state level to re-classify certain workers as “employees.” An amendment, backed by Representative Malinowski, explicitly clarifies that the only effect of the independent contractor provision in the PRO Act is to strengthen collective bargaining rights — in other words, to form a union if the employees choose -- and that it does not preempt any state laws governing the wages, work hours, workers’ compensation, or unemployment insurance of employees.