IN SUPPORT OF THE PRO ACT: PROTECTING THE RIGHT TO ORGANIZE

WHEREAS, opinion research consistently shows that a majority of American workers would join a union in their workplace if they did not fear getting fired during an organizing campaign; and

WHEREAS, the National Labor Relations Act, meant to protect workers in collective action and enable them to organize, has been gutted by adverse court decisions and legislative reforms favoring employers over the years; and

WHEREAS, the ability of the National Labor Relations Board to perform its original mission of protecting the right of workers to organize has been severely compromised, such that most private sector unions have given up serious efforts to organize, and when they do attempt to organize, they are subject to extraordinary barriers to success; and

WHEREAS, private sector union density, once one-third of the working class, is today, after decades of continuous decline, just over 6 percent; and

WHEREAS, without strong private sector unions in alliance with public sector unions, the entire labor movement is weakened; and

WHEREAS, over the past 40 years, as overall labor movement density has been cut in half, from 20 percent to 10 percent, the consequence has been severe cuts to public education and vital social program funding, and an enormous increase in economic inequality; and

WHEREAS, H.R. 2474, the Protecting the Right to Organize Act (PRO Act), would provide critical labor law reforms that would allow unions to organize in the private sector once again with a reasonable assurance of success; and

WHEREAS, the PRO Act has already passed the House of Representatives; and

WHEREAS, the Senate now has a slim majority of Democrats for the next two years, and provides the opportunity for the first time since 2010 for passage of labor law reform:

RESOLVED, that the American Federation of Teachers go on record in support of the PRO Act, share information about the PRO Act with its locals and allies within the community, and work with the labor movement to support its passage.

(July 15, 2022)