The Democrat-controlled House passed legislation late last week that would allow illegal immigrations to seek “damages” from employers if it is determined their “labor rights…have been violated.”
Called the “Protecting the Right to Organize” (PRO) Act, the bill would expand labor protections while boosting unions across the board, Fox News .
Like California’s controversial Assembly Bill 5, one of the PRO Act’s stated purposes is to end worker misclassification and stop employers from denying workers benefits by doing so, the news network added.
It passed in a 224-194 vote, mostly along party lines.
“The penalties for violating the [National Labor Relations Act] are weaker than those for violating other labor and employment laws, and workers lack a private right of action to pursue relief on their own,” a factsheet from the Committee on Education and Labor said.
“Workers are frequently misclassified as independent contractors or supervisors, and thus excluded from the protections afforded to employees covered by the NLRA.”
In addition, the bill would ban states from enacting “right-to-work” laws and would repeal those already in effect.
Political observers said the bill stands no chance of making it past the GOP-controlled Senate, let alone President Trump’s veto pen.
“Where workers have previously had the freedom to choose whether or not to pay fees & join a union, they will now be forced to pay membership fees or lose their job,” Rep. Kevin Hern, R-Okla., said, opposing the bill. “This will put immeasurable power in the hands of union bosses.”
Still, the legislation was supported by leading 2020 Democratic presidential contenders including Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., all of whom have supported a Senate version of the bill.