Bulletin: Pass the PRO Act

In March 2009, then-Vice President Joe Biden gave a surprisingly decent speech to the AFL-CIO’s annual conference in support of the Employee Free Choice Act. The EFCA was one of Obama’s key campaign promises; by allowing unions to form via “Card Check,” instead of forcing secret NLRB elections, the bill would have made it much easier for workers to organize. “This is all going to be difficult,” Biden said, “and one of the most difficult things will be to re-institute that basic bargain” between business and labor: that higher productivity means higher wages. “And I think the way to do that is the Employee Free Choice Act.” 

Four days later, Politico’s Glenn Thrush wrote of “surefire signs of stall,” arguing that moderate opposition could “hang up the measure for months, perhaps pushing it into the midterm election year of 2010.” By May 2009, the bill was as good as dead.

Now, you could never accuse the Philly DSA Bulletin Team of shilling for Joe Biden (in fact, we’ve often been accused of the opposite), but one area where he’s started to make the right noises is labor: his NLRB guy seems fine, his COVID relief bill currently includes a $15 minimum wage, and he’s on the record in support of the labor movement’s next big attempt to rewrite federal law: the PRO Act.

The PRO (Protecting the Right to Organize) Act has several key provisions. The bill would impose financial penalties on businesses who violate workers’ rights, remove prohibitions on solidarity strikes, and ban captive-audience meetings in contested union elections. Perhaps most significantly, it would federally ban right-to-work laws and push back against gig-economy exploitation by tightening standards around independent contractor classification. It’s a good bill. DSA supports it, and during the campaign, Joe Biden said he did, too. 

Does the PRO Act have a better shot than the EFCA did? We learned our lesson from 2008. Democrats like Biden aren’t going to make better labor laws a priority unless we push them, and now is our chance to up the pressure. Building a stronger labor movement is one of Philly DSA’s core priorities; sign up for one of our events below to join us.

This Week in Unions

• EMERGENCY LABOR ACTION! This Friday, Philly DSA will be hosting a Zoom phone zap to support Philadelphia Federation of Teachers staff, students, and community members against the dangerous reopening plan put forth by the school district. We will be calling the school board and city council as a group this Friday at 12:30, asking them to keep learning fully remote. RSVP here!
• Amazon warehouse workers in Bessemer, Alabama are voting this month on whether to form a union. It’s a high-profile, hotly-contested election, with the company campaigning hard and manipulating the size of the bargaining unit ahead of the vote. A win would be transformational, but it sure as hell won’t come easy.
• Finally, yes, most of the time the soccer news is a pun on our team being called the Philadelphia Union, but we have actual soccer-related labor news this week as MLS has unilaterally terminated their six-month-old CBA with the players’ union. The league is threatening a lockout if the union doesn’t agree to their terms by midnight tonight. Solidarity with Ray Gaddis and the rest of our Union Boys!

Events

Phone Zap for School Safety
Friday, Feb 5 | 12:30 pm – 1:30 pm | Virtual

New Members Meeting
Saturday, Feb 6 | 1:00 pm – 2:30 pm | Virtual

Steering Committee Meeting
Monday, Feb 8 | 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm | Virtual

Racial Justice Commission Meeting
Wednesday, Feb 10 | 6:00 pm – 7:15 pm | Virtual

Policy Committee Meeting
Wednesday, Feb 10 | 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm | Virtual

Housing Committee Meeting
Thursday, Feb 11 | 8:00 pm – 10:00 pm | Virtual

OCOS Committee Meeting
Saturday, Feb 13 | 3:00 pm – 4:30 pm | Virtual

Green New Deal Commission Meeting
Monday, Feb 15 | 6:30 pm – 8:00 pm | Virtual

Canvassing Committee Meeting
Monday, Feb 15 | 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm | Virtual

Marxism Reading Group: From Feudalism to the Market
Wednesday, Feb 17 | 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm | Virtual

Power to Heal Film Screening & Discussion
Thursday, Feb 18 | 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm | Virtual

Trivia Night
Friday, Feb 19 | 8:00 pm – 10:00 pm | Virtual

Branch Events

BuxMont DSA Political Education Reading Group
Every Monday | 7pm | Virtual

Delco DSA Reading Group
Thursday, Feb 11 | 8:00 pm - 9:30 pm | Virtual

BuxMont DSA General Meeting
Tuesday, February 16 | 7pm | Virtual

Delco DSA February Branch Meeting
Wednesday, Feb 17 | 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm | Virtual

Support 👏 Philly 👏 DSA 👏!
Local Dues - support our campaign work and cover everyday operating costs like meeting space // Contribute to Philly DSA PAC - help fund our independent electoral campaigns // Accommodations, Accessibility, Childcare - let us know what you need to stay involved // Moved away from Philly? - update your address on the DSA national database.

Harassment and Grievance Process
In accordance with Article XIII of our Bylaws, a commission has been formed to receive, process, and review grievances for disciplinary action. To read more about the process or to file a grievance you can do so here.

Stay safe,

Philly DSA Bulletin Team

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