Political Quotes

“Madam Speaker, the PRO Act is about tackling income inequality and remedying laws that have failed to protect workers' rights. The PRO Act expressly says it shall not be construed to amend any laws regarding hiring undocumented workers. It also prevents employers from being able to bust a union organizing drive simply by firing undocumented workers they had hired previously. The real-world effect of this MTR is to create a perverse incentive to go ahead and hire undocumented workers, because they could never receive information from a union about organizing. Moreover, carving out undocumented workers from organizing deters all workers from exercising their rights. Employees who witness employers violating labor laws without repercussions will be afraid to rely on the National Labor Relations Act. Finally, our immigration laws require employers to find out about whether workers are documented or not. There is no provision in our laws that allow unions to find that out. This MTR is truly bad policy. It will encourage more hiring of undocumented workers; exactly the opposite of what the authors intend. But the main thing is it will undermine the freedom to form unions and bargain collectively for all workers. Republicans offered this MTR to score political points. But we are focused on rebuilding the American middle class. I have spent most of my career helping workers form unions and bargain collectively.…”