Recently, USW organizers were on the ground in South Carolina, talking to workers at Giti Tire about joining our union. Within hours, the company held mandatory meetings with the workers at the plant and sent a letter to their homes discouraging them from organizing.
We know that if labor reform like the PRO Act doesn’t happen, Giti will continue to intimidate its workers and likely retaliate or fire those who fight to get the union in.
The purposes of the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act are simple: to ensure workers can push for the changes we want to see at our jobs without fear of retaliation, and to strengthen workers’ rights to form a union and negotiate for those changes if we so choose.
The PRO Act ensures that employers cannot:
- Fire and permanently replace workers who are on strike.
- Lock out, suspend or withhold work from employees to stop them from striking.
- Tell employees that they are independent contractors when they are actually employees.
- Force employees to attend anti-union messaging meetings.
- Change work conditions, pay or benefits while negotiating a union contract.
- Force employees to waive their right to collective and class legal action.
- Prohibit employees from using work computers for collective action.
Currently, there are no penalties for employers like Giti who illegally retaliate against or fire workers for collective action. The bill is necessary because our woefully outdated labor laws are no longer effective as a means for working people to have our voices heard.
This week, the AFL-CIO is holding a PRO Act week of action. Here are three ways you can make your voice heard:
- Click HERE to send an email to your Senators urging them to support the PRO Act.
- Call your Senators at 877-607-0785, tell them who you are, where you are from, and that you are counting on them to PASS the PRO Act.
- Click HERE to find PRO Act week of action events near you.
