1 CEU HRCI |  1 PDC SHRM APPROVED

The American people like unions, but very few belong to one, a discrepancy that places the U.S. labor movement in a precarious state. If Americans like unions and want to join them but aren’t, it’s most likely because they can’t. But a possible fix awaits in the form of the “Protecting the Right to Organize Act 2021.”  The PRO Act is a far-reaching piece of legislation with the goal of strengthening organized labor. It would alter the balance of power in labor-management relations.

If enacted, the PRO Act would mark the biggest expansion of collective-bargaining rights in decades. It would amend the National Labor Relations Act, the Labor Management Relations Act of 1947, and the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959. President Biden supports the bill, and he may soon be in a position to make good on that support. The bill passed the House of Representatives with bipartisan support on March 9, 2021, and is headed to the Senate. But it may face a harder road in the Senate, where a virtually certain Republican filibuster could block its passage.

• Purpose & Provisions of the PRO Act 2021
• Current roadblocks to passing the Senate
• How the PRO Act would address existing deficiencies in U.S. law
• Background information on the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), the Labor Management Relations Act of 1947, and the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959
• How the PRO Act would eliminate existing loopholes in U.S. law that undermine organizing
• Empowering the NLRB to enforce unions on employers even where the union lost the representation election
• Altering the framework for determining the employee-independent contractor classification
• Elimination of employers’ free speech rights during union organizing campaigns
• Elimination of the concept of negotiation requiring binding arbitration for initial collective bargaining agreements
• Enabling unions to more easily organize employees through “micro” or “mini” unions
• Potential impact the PRO Act may have on businesses
• Substantial impact on independent contractors
• Banning of state right-to-work laws
• The current state of union membership in the U.S.
• Is technology making it easier to suppress or discourage organizing?
• Eliminating barriers preventing workers from exercising to their rights to join a union
• Human rights laws ensure everyone has the right to organize better working conditions, to form and join unions, to strike, and to bargain collectively with employers
• Effect on economic and social inequality

• Business Owners
• Employment Law Professionals
• Labor Law Professionals
• Human Resources Professionals
• Operations Professionals
• Managers & Supervisors
• Union & non-unionized Employees

Note: You will get access to the Recording link and E-Transcript; in your account and at your registered email address.