During this year’s State of the Union address to Congress, President Joe Biden said that he’s “sick and tired” of union busting. He then called on Congress to pass the PRO Act. Obviously, we agree. However, if the Biden Administration really wants to tackle union busting, it can start right away and without the help of a dysfunctional Congress.
FIRST, U.S. Department of Labor Secretary Marty Walsh could direct his agency to crack down on the union busting industry’s intentional disregard for transparency laws. Under the law, professional union busters are obligated to disclose their activities to the public within 30 days of being hired. However, according to an unprecedented analysis conducted by the LaborLab, union busters violate this rule over 80% of the time! This gives them an unfair and illegal advantage over workers.
The union busting industry’s compliance with federal law dropped dramatically under President Trump and has yet to recover under Biden.
The U.S. Department of Labor and the Office of Labor Management Standards must do everything in its power to force the union busting industry to disclose any and all of its activities as mandated by the law.
SECOND, the Biden Administration must return to the definition of reportable union busting as originally intended under the Labor Management and Relations Disclosure Act (LMRDA). Biden must also stop the flow of federal tax dollars to union busting employers. LaborLab Executive Director Bob Funk recently appeared in a video for More Perfect Union where he goes into more detail on what Biden and his team can do right away to show they support the American working class. Watch it here.
The right to unionize will never be secure as long as the union busting industry is allowed to violate the laws ALREADY on the books. We MUST pass the PRO Act, but until that becomes a reality, there are many steps this Administration can take to level the playing field for working families.
