Americans Are Worried About The PRO Act So Let’s Make Our Voices Heard

Last week, the Coalition for a Democratic Workplace (CDW), which MSCI is a member of, released the result of a national survey that highlights voters’ concerns about the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act.

As a reminder, this legislation would:

• Effectively overturn right-to-work laws in 27 states;
• Allow the firing of workers who opt out of paying unwanted union dues;
• Strip independent contractors of flexible work arrangements and kill earning opportunities; and
• Abolish secret ballots and threaten worker privacy in favor of “card check” voting, where union organizers demand that individual workers publicly sign a card in favor of the union.

The CDW’s survey asked more than 1,000 registered voters about the PRO Act and its impact on workers’ rights and small businesses. It found:

• Seven out of 10 voters are concerned about repealing state right-to-work protections for workers and forcing them to pay union dues or risk losing their job.
• Three out of four voters are concerned about requiring employers to turn over employees’ personal information to union organizers without the consent of the employee.
• Seven out of 10 voters are concerned the PRO Act limits the ability of individuals to work as independent contractors.
• 57 percent of voters believe that Americans should not be forced to join a union as a condition of employment.
• 67 percent of voters are concerned about eliminating ‘secret ballot’ union elections.
• Nearly seven out of 10 (65 percent) voters are concerned about upending the franchise business model, turning existing owners of franchises into employees of their brand and reducing new franchise ownership opportunities.
• Only 34 percent of U.S. voters think unions should have more influence.

MSCI continues to urge its members to let their representatives in Washington know that industrial metals sector opposes this legislation. There are several ways to weigh in, including:

• Using this link rom the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) to send an email to senators;
• Writing a letter to senators using this one from NAM as a template;
• Using the Coalition for a Democratic Workplace (CDW) a grassroots toolkit, which includes a fact sheet explaining the bill, a video outlining its provisions, and a sample letter for individuals to send to members of Congress; and
• Accessing the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s one-click advocacy tool to weigh in on social media and use this portal to send a message to U.S. senators.