RIGHT SPEAK: Dangerous PRO Act Would Give Illegal Workers More Rights than Americans

AP Photo/David Goldman

Illegal immigrants who take jobs in the United States are not covered by union regulations or other protections under the federal National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). This is not surprising, as American laws were not written to cover those who come to this country illegally.

A proposed law currently under consideration in the House of Representatives would change this in drastic and unprecedented ways.

David Williams of the Taxpayer Protection Alliance was first to raise awareness of the dangers of the Protecting the Right to Organize, or PRO Act. Under current regulations, workers seeking to unionize can use signed cards to demonstrate that a clear and commanding majority favor unionizing. At that point, an employer can either accept the unionization, or offer workers a secret ballot election. The latter can prevent coercion by unions and protect workers’ voting privacy. Some workers who do not want to unionize will sign cards to give their fellow workers the opportunity to vote. Elections are overseen by the NLRB to ensure they are fair and free.

The NLRA bans employers from interfering in collective bargaining. Workers who believe their collective bargaining rights have been interfered with can sue and if they win can receive damages and other awards. Illegal immigrants are not covered and covering them has never been the intent of the NLRA.

In 2009, pro-union Democrats introduced the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), which unlike what its name implies, would have done away with secret ballot elections and declared open season for coercing workers into unionizing whether they wanted to or not. That radical bill failed even while the Democrats controlled Congress and the White House.

The PRO Act, H.R. 2474, has now been introduced and its proponents promise it’s a scaled-back approach to the EFCA – but it’s actually worse than the EFCA. Not only does the PRO Act leave unionizers free to coerce workers, it would grant illegal workers protections not even afforded American workers.