Labor Caucus Calls on Senate to Pass PRO Act

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Labor Caucus Co-Chairs Representatives Debbie Dingell (D-MI), Steven Horsford (D-NV), Donald Norcross (D-NJ), Mark Pocan (D-WI) Linda Sánchez (D-CA), and Tom Suozzi (D-NY) call on the Senate to immediately pass the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act after reported anti-labor events this week.

“The Congressional Labor Caucus strongly condemns corporate union-busting tactics, such as those reportedly used by Starbucks in retaliation against workers attempting to organize at multiple stores across the country.

“As the first Starbucks stores in the nation sought to unionize in Buffalo, New York, Starbucks allegedly created a hostile organizing environment, using a combination of intimidation, store closures, and rapid hiring of new staff to dilute the pro-union vote to neutralize the worker-led effort. Despite this coordinated corporate anti-union campaign, the Starbucks workers formed a union.

“On Tuesday, it was reported that Starbucks fired nearly the entire union organizing committee at a store in Memphis, Tennessee. The rationale offered by Starbucks is that these employees violated company policy, but a former manager at the Memphis store has gone on the record to refute this.

“This type of reported behavior underscores the need for the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act, which passed the House over one year ago with support from the Labor Caucus. The PRO Act will offer workers protections and guarantee their right to organize without interference or fear of reprisal by their employers.

“We have had it with corporate spokespeople and lobbyists saying they’re pro-worker when asking for meetings on Capitol Hill, while at the same time using every trick in the book to stop unionizing efforts cold in their tracks. Workers have the right to organize – it’s time they had a level playing field to do so. We once again call on the Senate to pass the PRO Act and send it to President Biden’s desk to be signed into law.”