New HR Policy Brief for CHROs Explains How the November Election Could Upend American Labor Law

October 09, 2020
by Dan Yager

Should the Democrats win the presidency and both houses of Congress, we expect that one of the most significant shifts in human resource policy will involve American labor laws.

Following up on last week’s Policy Impact call, a new brief succinctly explains to CHROs four of the most significant aspects of the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act.  The brief details how the bill:

• Allows a union to be certified even if it loses a secret ballot election – on the basis of a “card check” and allegations of employer misconduct;
  
  
• Sets a deadline for agreeing on an initial bargaining agreement, and directs external arbitrators to write the initial agreement if the parties don’t meet the deadline;
  
  
• Exposes neutral employers to work stoppages arising from labor disputes involving their customers and suppliers; and
  
  
• Excludes the employer from critical National Labor Relations Board proceedings determining how a union representation election is to be conducted.

These are just some of the many sweeping changes included in the Act.  Others include imposing personal liability on directors and officers for violations, enabling independent contractors to form unions, preventing an employer from holding meetings with their employees to discuss unionization, including supervisors in the voting and bargaining units, and making it easier for unions to organize small subgroups in a workplace.