Bernie Sanders and Bobby Scott reintroduce PRO Act amid growing assault on labor rights
Washington DC - Senator Bernie Sanders on Wednesday announced he had reintroduced the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act, comprehensive legislation aimed at enhancing workers' rights.
The PRO Act, first introduced in 2019, calls for a number of reforms designed to remove the barriers that make it difficult for workers to form a union.
The bill's pro-worker provisions include, among others:
- ending right-to-work laws
- increasing penalties for companies that unlawfully fire pro-union workers
- barring companies from permanently replacing striking workers
- banning mandatory anti-union meetings
- requiring employers to disclose contracts with anti-union consultants
facilitating timely first contracts between companies and newly-certified unions
"Never before in the history of our nation have income and wealth inequality been greater than today. Workers are falling further and further behind," Sanders said in a press release.
"In response, millions of Americans have expressed their desire to join a union," the senator added.
Representative Bobby Scott, who introduced the House version of the bill, described the PRO Act as "the most critical step Congress can take to uplift American workers."
More than 18 major labor unions have endorsed the legislation so far, including the AFL-CIO, Service Employees International Union, United Auto Workers, and more.
PRO Act hailed as "long overdue"
Sanders slammed the Trump administration for catering to the ultrawealthy at the expense of the working class, including by firing National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) member Gwynne Wilcox, whose term was not set to expire until 2028. The board now lacks the quorum needed to decide cases.
"Without a functioning NLRB, corporate bosses can illegally fire unionizing workers, flagrantly violate labor laws and render free and fair union elections near impossible," the Vermont independent warned.
"Supporting the immediate reinstatement of Member Wilcox and the swift passage of the PRO Act would be major steps toward building real worker power," he continued.
Wilcox's termination came amid a string of mass government firings, led by Trump and far-right billionaire Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). She has challenged her dismissal in a lawsuit filed last month in the US District Court for the District of Columbia.
"In too many workplaces, in too many industries across the country, big corporations and billionaire CEOs still retaliate against us for organizing," said AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler. "Now they have an unelected, unaccountable, union-buster trying to illegally fire tens of thousands of our fellow workers in federal jobs and an administration rolling back the workplace protections."
"The PRO Act is long overdue, and the American people agree. We urge elected leaders of both parties to move this critical legislation forward so that all workers have the chance to stand together and build better lives for themselves and their families."
Cover photo: JIM WATSON / AFP