The U.S. House of Representatives voted 225-206 yesterday to pass the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act, a bill that would fundamentally change the status of work and the American economy.
By imposing a version of California’s job-killing law Assembly Bill 5 (AB5) on the entire nation, the PRO Act will kill flexible, independent work and leave millions of freelancers out of work. It does this by reclassifying millions of independent contractors as employees, forcing workers to choose between a one-size-fits-all, traditional 9-to-5 job, or no work at all.
1 in 5 jobs in America are held by an independent contractor, and nearly 75 percent of contractors are working independently by choice. By making it more difficult for employers to classify workers as independent contractors, the PRO Act would take away this choice.
Already in California, freelance workers have been devastated by the policies replicated in the PRO Act. AB5 was so crippling to independent workers in the state that lawmakers granted a host of influential professions such as writers, musicians and producers exemptions from the jobs-killing nightmare.
The PRO Act would mandate these policies on a national scale, eventually overriding the special exemptions many Californians fought to gain.
Beyond putting millions of independent contractors out of work, the PRO Act would also hand over tremendous amounts of power to union organizers by banning right-to-work state laws and forcing employers to turn over workers’ personal, private information to union organizers, potentially subjecting workers to harassment and retribution.
Today, there are many options for work outside a 9-to-5 job. It is liberating for women, many of whom are moms and caregivers, to have flexible opportunities to work on their own terms and time. The PRO Act would take us backwards.
After passing the U.S. House of Representatives, the PRO Act will move to the U.S. Senate for a vote. Contact your Senators TODAY, and urge them to vote NO on the PRO Act. Learn how to do that here.