Protecting the Right to Organize Act (PRO Act)

Protecting the Right to Organize Act

Retailers are focused on building a 21st Century Retail Workforce that is diverse, innovative, and skilled. To realize this goal, we need modern thinking that reimagines outdated labor laws, which impede innovation, disrupt communication between employers and employees, and stifle employee rights. Unfortunately, the Protecting the Right to Organize Act (PRO Act), currently under consideration by Congress, is a return to antiquated thinking about work.

The legislation would not only limit the rights of employers and workers but also cause substantial economic disruption by eliminating decades-old checks on abusive conduct by union leaders. Many of the proposals in the PRO Act are harmful to our country’s small and local businesses and will also harm employees. It would establish an innovation-stifling joint employer standard, legalize dangerous and misguided secondary boycotts, and violate employee rights and privacy, among other provisions.

In short, the PRO Act puts the interests of politically connected organized labor over those of workers, employers, and the economy.

The PRO Act passed the U.S. House of Representatives in March 2021. It is unclear whether there is a legislative pathway in the Senate; RILA will continue to advocate for a more modern approach to workforce policy that empowers workers, promotes innovation, and enables retailers to invest in their people and communities.