The Coalition for a Democratic Workplace (CDW) released a statement Monday criticizing Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) for his decision to co-sponsor the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act.
The CDW, which is composed of hundreds of organizations representing millions of businesses that employ tens of millions of workers nationwide in nearly every industry, described Manchin’s decision as “very disappointing.”
“It is very disappointing that Senator Manchin has chosen to side with union bosses over West Virginia’s workers and small businesses, especially during a time of economic turmoil,” CDW Chair Kristen Swearingen said in the statement.
“We hope Manchin will reconsider co-sponsoring this legislation as his legacy of bipartisanship will be irrevocably tainted if he supports anti-worker legislation that invades employees’ privacy and will kill West Virginia jobs, while taking the hard-earned income away from small businesses and employees to boost the coffers of organized labor,” Swearingen continued.
Swearingen also noted that if the PRO Act is passed, “86 percent of West Virginia’s nonunionized workers would be stripped of vital privacy rights as employers would be forced to turn over their personal contact information to union organizers.”
“With unfettered access to employees, labor organizers would have the ability to harass and bully workers into joining a union against their will,” Swearingen said. “Organizers could show up at a worker’s home, spam them on email and even bully them on social media.”
Swearingen also stated that Manchin appears to have been “persuaded by a deceptive phone campaign in West Virginia ran by the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA).”
“At a time when West Virginian businesses are struggling to keep their doors open and employees retained during the COVID-19 pandemic, this bill would force employers to close permanently and lay off workers,” Swearingen concluded. “Bottomline, thousands of West Virginians could lose their job and important employee rights if the PRO Act becomes law.”
While the PRO Act has received approval from the U.S. House, its fate remains undetermined as it awaits approval from the Senate.
As highlighted by the National Law Review, the PRO Act contains an array of “controversial amendments,” including the undermining of state right-to-work laws.
Formed in 2005, CDW is a broad-based coalition of hundreds of organizations representing hundreds of thousands of employers and millions of employees in various industries across the country concerned with a long-standing effort by some in the labor movement to make radical changes to the National Labor Relations Act without regard to the severely negative impact they would have on employees, employers, and the economy.
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