Political Quotes

“Madam Chairwoman, today, as we consider the PRO Act, we think of how far the labor movement has come and how far we have yet to go. We think of all the important steps we need to take as a government and as a nation to rebuild our working class as productivity is dropping and inequality is rising, to ensure fundamental, basic protections are in place for a better work environment and a stronger economy for all, to secure workers' rights to collectively bargain. The PRO Act represents the rights of the nearly 700,000 brothers and sisters in unions across my home State of Michigan where the steady humming of hard work and determination abounds. The PRO Act is in our bones. Public approval of labor unions is near a 50-year high, but union membership is at its lowest level since just after the National Labor Relations Act was enacted in 1935. It is not a coincidence that as union membership has declined, income inequality has soared. At the same time, new forms of work continue to emerge in our innovation economy, work that allows individuals the complete freedom to work whenever and for whomever they choose. Many developed countries have sought to address the changing nature of work through sectoral bargaining, where representatives of workers and employers in a given industry bargain over wages and standards throughout that industry.…”