DPE Applauds PRO Act Re-introduction
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Katie Barrows
Communications Director
P: 202-549-5991
kbarrows@dpeaflcio.org
WASHINGTON, March 5, 2025 - Today, the Richard L. Trumka Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act was introduced for the 119th Congress in the U.S. House of Representatives by Rep. Bobby Scott (D-Va.) and Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.), and was introduced in the U.S. Senate by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). The PRO Act will level the playing field for professionals by modernizing the National Labor Relations Act through provisions to help hold employers accountable when they break the law, empower workers to exercise their workplace rights, and promote free and fair union elections. Department for Professionals Employees, AFL-CIO (DPE) President Jennifer Dorning released the following statement in response to the introduction of the PRO Act:
“Most professionals want to join a union and there has been an increase in workplace activism in recent years. However, federal labor law does not effectively protect professionals’ right to form a union and negotiate with their employer collectively in the private sector. The weak penalties employers are subject to when they break the law do not deter them from intimidating and retaliating against employees during union organizing campaigns and intentionally holding up first union contract negotiations. The PRO Act will improve federal labor law by creating real consequences for employers who break the law, making employer tactics that interfere with elections illegal, and facilitating productive negotiations to encourage quicker agreement on first union contracts.
I applaud Representatives Scott and Fitzpatrick and Senator Sanders, along with the original cosponsors, for introducing this critical legislation that protects working peoples’ right to join together in union and bargain for better pay, benefits, and working conditions.”
About DPE
The Department for Professional Employees, AFL-CIO (DPE) is a coalition of 24 unions representing over four million professional and technical union members. DPE affiliate unions represent professionals in over 300 occupations in education and healthcare; science, engineering, and technology; legal, business, and management; media, entertainment, and the arts; and public administration.