In the last days of 2019, the Oregon AFL-CIO Executive Board unanimously approved a resolution calling on Congress to pass three critical pieces of legislation to modernize our nation’s labor laws: the Protecting the Right to Organize Act (H.R. 2474), the Public Service Freedom to Negotiate Act (H.R. 6238), and the Public Safety Employer-Employee Cooperation Act (H.R. 1154).
This resolution affirms the Oregon AFL-CIO’s commitment to modernizing our labor laws to better allow working people to stand together to fight for better wages, benefits, and working conditions. Our labor laws are outdated, and the weaknesses within them allow employers to coerce, intimidate and punish workers for exercising their democratic rights. These outdated laws let bad bosses break the law without any detrimental consequences thus avoiding any real accountability for union-busting.
Currently, the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act (H.R. 2474) is supported by every Democratic member of Congress from Oregon except for Representative Kurt Schrader, who has indicated he does not plan to vote for the PRO Act. Oregon AFL-CIO President Graham Trainor spoke about Rep. Schrader’s stance on this important legislation in a recent statement:
“Oregon’s unions expect better from Representative Schrader. Reforming labor law is a critical step in building an economy that works for everyone, not just the wealthy. Corporations and anti-union special interest groups will continue to exploit loopholes in our outdated labor laws to keep workers from standing together in strength. We have a chance to fix this problem, but Representative Schrader does not seem to see it that way.”
TAKE ACTION
Here are three ways you can help put pressure on Rep. Schrader to support workers’ rights and stand with us instead of corporate America:
Call Rep. Schrader’s district offices: Salem: (503) 588-9100 Oregon City: (503)-557-1324 Politely tell Congressman Schrader’s staff that you want him to co-sponsor or support the Protect the Right to Organize (PRO) Act, H.R. 2474 so that more working people have the opportunity to join a union.