Statement of UAW President Rory Gamble on U.S. House Passage of the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act (H.R. 2474)

“Today is a good day for all working people. The Democratically controlled House of Representatives passed the PRO Act, legislation that goes a long way towards rebuilding our  middle class by increasing penalties against employers who violate workers’ rights to organize, protecting the right to strike, prohibiting captive audience meetings, and helping workers who choose to form a union to secure a first contract.

It is legislation like the PRO ACT that will create an economy that works for all Americans instead of one that puts the interests of the 1% and multinational corporations above everyone else.

We must not forget that it was unions that created the middle class in this great nation of ours and improved working conditions for all Americans. No one knows that better than UAW members who have walked the picket lines, fought at the bargaining table, and stood strong in the halls of Congress to improve the quality of life for every American for decades.

Unfortunately, the ability of workers to come together and collectively bargain for workplace rights and better wages and benefits have been sabotaged by weak labor laws, anti-worker special interests, and misguided court rulings. Today we are fighting back to create a level playing field. This day is long overdue. And it has been for over a dozen years since the House of Representatives passed a single bill that would serve to ensure workers have a place at the bargaining table. In fact, it has been 85 years since our elected leaders in Washington passed labor laws that are good for working people.

It is now up to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to allow a vote on this bill and not have it languish, along with so many other good House-passed bills, that would raise wages and lower the cost of health care and prescription drugs.

I want to thank our delegates, many of whom went to Washington DC, this week to have their voice heard. And I want to thank working people everywhere who fought to make this day possible.

When we fight, we win.”