On the recordFebruary 6, 2020
Woman, I reiterate that workers have the right to decertify a union if they want to under existing law and under the PRO Act. It doesn't change that. What we do is say that employers may not stop recognizing a union simply because of turnover. If workers negotiated a contract with an employer through their union several years ago and now there has been some turnover, that doesn't mean the workers are against the collective bargaining agreement that benefits them. The contract will expire, and then the workers will negotiate another one, whichever workers are there at that time. At that time, if a majority of the workers want to decertify the union, they are fully free to do that. What the gentleman is trying to defend is the employer's role in destroying unions. That is what is really going on here. Madam Chairwoman, in my 30-some years of being involved in the labor movement, the biggest problem in workers' freedom to form unions is the idea that the employers are a party, and you have to try to create a union or keep a union by going up against your boss, the person who decides your wages, decides your assignment. This is just another tactic to allow employers to pressure workers out of having collective bargaining. I reserve the balance of my time.
