As it makes its way through Congress, the Private Right to Organize Act has many concerned about similarities to a California law that has led to opposition by companies such as Uber and Lyft. | Adobe Stock
As it makes its way through Congress, the Private Right to Organize Act has many concerned about similarities to a California law that has led to opposition by companies such as Uber and Lyft. | Adobe Stock
Legislation moving through Congress known as the PRO Act worries some independent contractors and freelancers due to its similarities to a California law that has been repeatedly altered to accommodate specific industries.
F. Vincent Vernuccio, a senior fellow at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, told Prairie State Wire that if it becomes law, the Private Right to Organize Act will devastate independent workers such as freelancers. It would impose the same standards that were created in California in the first place, without any of the adjustments made to walk-back that state law.
“The chance of passage is up in the air,” Vernuccio said. “The filibuster is the main thing blocking the Senate from passing the PRO Act.”
Yet if the remaining Democratic opposition to the bill waivers, the measure could easily pass the Senate, after which there is little doubt President Biden will sign it into law, he said.
“The Biden administration may also try to enact several parts of the PRO Act through rulemaking or other administrative actions, Vernuccio said. “This will allow the administration to bypass the legislative process but also allow [a] future administration to more easily reverse the regulations.”
According to coverage by Fortune, however, the PRO Act does have one distinct difference from California’s controversial Assembly Bill 5. While the California law forced companies to either hire freelancers as employees or stop using them as workers, the PRO Act applies the same standard only to whether those individuals have a right to unionize.
“Nothing in the PRO Act outlaws any kind of work arrangement," said the AFL-CIO, according to the Fortune article. "The PRO Act’s 'ABC test' only determines who qualifies for NLRA protection if and when they try to engage in collective action, organize a union or bargain collectively. The PRO Act does not affect any of the laws that typically determine whether someone is hired as a W-2 employee, most notably tax law, but also minimum wage, overtime, unemployment insurance and workers’ compensation.”
There are, however, other concerns for traditional employees, Vernuccio said. In 27 states, right-to-work laws currently permit workers to opt not to join the union at their place of employment, and the PRO Act will nullify that right at the federal level.
Alerts Sign-up