During her remarks at the American Federation of Teachers National Convention last week, Vice President Kamala Harris pledged to sign the freelance-busting Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act into law if elected this November.
Harris told Randi Weingarten’s group that she, in tandem with President Joe Biden, is committed to Big Labor priorities like the PRO Act. She remarked, “President Joe Biden and I promised to sign the PRO Act into law, and I promise you I will keep that promise. Because when workers join together and demand what is fair, everyone is better off.” Even one Democrat PRO Act holdout and potential VP contender, Senator Mark Kelly, who represents the right-to-work state of Arizona, announced he “switched” his position and will now back this awful bill.
This bill, if passed by Congress and signed into law by a president, would upend and ultimately destroy 64 million freelancers' livelihoods. This should alarm every freelancer and independent contractor—left, right, or center—out there. But this isn’t the first time Harris has expressed support for this destructive policy.
As a U.S. Senator, she joined the program as an original PRO Act co-sponsor in 2019. And in February 2023, she tweeted: America is strong when our unions are strong. Let’s pass the ProAct to protect every worker’s right to join a union.” Any worker who desires to join a union can – except more American workers choose to opt out of unions. Even 33,000 public employees ditched their unions in 2023. Although the Biden administration and media push for union organizing, the unionized workforce is at a historic low–a paltry 10% of the workforce, compared to freelancers, who make up 38% of the workforce (and growing). Big Labor advocates gaslight us by saying unions are popular, despite this downward trend.
Among its dangerous goals, the PRO Act would upend right-to-work laws by mandating union membership as a condition of employment and forcibly reclassifying independent contractors under a California-style ABC test.
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First, Americans are actively relocating to states like Texas, Georgia, Florida, North Carolina, and South Carolina– all right-to-work states - from unionized states like California, New Jersey, Massachusetts, and others. 27 right-to-work states are more economically prosperous by attracting people and businesses with business-friendly climates and low tax regimes. Were the PRO Act to pass Congress and become law, the American Action Forum warned that “the bill could increase employment costs by anywhere from $18 – $61 billion and put up to $2.3 trillion of gross domestic product at risk.”
Regarding union membership as a condition of employment, the 2021 and 2023 versions of the PRO Act state employers and unions would negotiate “fair share agreements” that would mandate employees (a.k.a. workers) pay union fees to keep their jobs. One legal analysis said: “The PRO Act states contract provisions requiring that “all employees in a bargaining unit shall contribute fees to a labor organization for the cost of representation, collective bargaining, contract enforcement, and related expenditures as a condition of employment shall be valid and enforceable notwithstanding any State or Territorial law.” By compelling all employees in a bargaining unit to contribute fees to the union as a condition of keeping their jobs, the PRO Act would provide a financial benefit to unions at the expense of each covered employee.”
If upending right-to-work laws wasn’t concerning enough, VP Harris would greenlight a California-like ABC test passed under California Assembly Bill 5. The nefarious AB5, codified into law in 2020, has displaced countless freelancers from the workforce by deeming all workers to be employees and not independent contractors unless they meet three obscure criteria:
Under the ABC test, a worker is considered an employee and not an independent contractor unless the hiring entity satisfies all three of the following conditions:
The worker is free from the control and direction of the hiring entity in connection with the performance of the work, both under the contract for the performance of the work and in fact,
The worker performs work that is outside the usual course of the hiring entity’s business and
The worker is customarily engaged in an independently established trade, occupation, or business of the same nature as that involved in the work performed.
Even in progressive California, voters rejected AB5 and its accompanying ABC test by voting in Proposition 22 to classify ride-share drivers as independent contractors. Despite going through various legal challenges, the liberal California Supreme Court unanimously ruled last week that ride-share drivers are independent contractors. They upheld the will of California voters who overwhelmingly supported Prop 22 by a 58.63%-41.37 vote. Perceptions of ride-share drivers and even the drivers’ self-perceptions of themselves overwhelming tilt to a 1099 independent contractor status. A 2021 Gallup State Gig Work report found 62% of the former and 65% of the latter agree with this notion, respectively.
Even progressive companies like REI (Recreational Equipment, Inc.) don’t want union pushes because they are meddlesome and dilute worker experiences. As I noted here at Townhall last fall:
REI, however, sent a statement to the publication cautioning against unions meddling in their business operations, noting, “However, we do not view union representation as the best path to improving work situations for REI employees. We are committed to creating an employee experience that is so compelling that the need for a union is not necessary.”
Vice President Kamala Harris would double down on President Biden’s War on Independent Contracting. That is a scary prospect that should scare all American workers – non-unionized and unionized alike.
Nevertheless, Republicans shouldn’t borrow Big Labor tactics to appeal to disillusioned workers for short-term gain. Nor should they abandon right-to-work as one GOP Senator recently did and platform a corrupt union boss who did all but endorse former President Trump.
Paint in bold colors to appeal to all workers.
