Hank Johnson: “I thank the ranking member for yielding. Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to this resolution and the complete…”

“I thank the ranking member for yielding. Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to this resolution and the complete dismantlement of the Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces executive order. Among other worker protection benefits, President Obama's Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces executive order prohibits Federal contractors from using forced arbitration clauses in employment contracts involving civil, sexual assault, and harassment disputes. It directs companies with Federal contracts of $1 million or more not to require their employees to enter into pre-dispute arbitration proceedings for disputes arising out of title VII of the Civil Rights Act or from sexual assault or harassment cases, except when valid contracts already exist. This existing order built upon existing policy that was successfully implemented at the Department of Defense, the largest Federal contracting agency, and it will help improve contractors' compliance with labor laws. Simply put, Mr. Speaker, the Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces executive order required Federal contractors to give employees their day in court. By doing away with this order, the new administration is subjecting workers to forced arbitration, which is a private and fundamentally unfair process. Unlike the court system, which was developed through centuries of jurisprudence, forced arbitration does not provide important procedural guarantees of fairness and due process that are the hallmark of our courts.…”