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Our Perspective
Delayed Housing
Works Victory Shows
Need for PRO Act
By Stuart Appelbaum, President
Retail, Wholesale and Department
Store Union, UFCW
Twitter: @sappelbaum
In December, by an overwhelming margin, 605
employees at Housing Works housing units,
thrift stores, healthcare, and other locations
throughout New York City finally won their
campaign to join the RWDSU. It was one of the biggest union organizing
wins anywhere in 2020, and it meant that Housing Works workers will
finally be able to address the issues they faced including poor pay and
benefits, unmanageable caseloads, lack of training, discrimination and
harassment and health and safety problems. Finally, through a union
contract and a voice on the job, these workers will be able to improve
their jobs, their lives, and the care received by Housing Works clients.
The workers’ win shows their tenacity and dedication. They never
wavered in this unnecessarily long process, which was stalled by their
employer at every turn. They stayed strong as their employer continued to
do everything possible to delay the union election, hoping to squash the
workers’ momentum and eventually smother the organizing drive.
The fact that these workers stood together and won is inspiring and
joyous, and stands as a testament to what working people can accomplish
when they are united. The fact that it took two years, amidst countless
delays and obstacles put up by their employer, can only be described as a
shame. It shouldn’t take workers who overwhelmingly want to exercise
their right to join a union two years to accomplish their goal. Employers
shouldn’t be allowed to continually game the system to try to squeeze the
life out of organizing drives by their workers.
Legislation passed in the House last year, the Protecting the Right to
Organize Act, known as the PRO Act, would help ensure that workers aren’t
denied their rights and that employers aren’t allowed to abuse the system
to run out the clock on organizing drives. The PRO Act would amend labor
laws to give workers more power during disputes at work, add penalties
for companies that retaliate against workers who organize and grant some
hundreds of thousands of workers collective-bargaining rights they don’t
currently have. It would also weaken anti-worker “right-to-work” laws in 27
states that hurt unions.
With a Republican Senate and Trump in the White House, the PRO Act
was considered dead on arrival. With the arrival of President Biden and a
Democratic Congress in 2021, passage of the PRO Act is possible. After
decades of the playing field leaning further and further to employers’ favor,
now is an opportunity to restore some balance in the fight for workers’
rights and give more workers a chance at winning a union voice.
The huge victory at Housing Works showed the power workers have
when they stand united, but it also showed the need to level the playing
field between workers and their employers when it comes to union and
worker rights. When workers want to join a union, it
shouldn’t take years. Workers should be free to
exercise their rights without employer interference,
intimidation, and delay. The PRO Act needs to be a
top legislative priority in 2021, so that more
workers can win union representation and better
lives for themselves and their families.
www.rwdsu.org
Schneps Media January 28, 2021 7
/www.rwdsu.org
/www.rwdsu.org
