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The
"Protecting the Right to Organize Act" being pushed by Democrats
passed the House by a vote of 225-206.
The bill now goes to the Senate where it is expected to have a
more difficult path because Democrats and Republicans are split
50-50 in the chamber and most legislation needs at least 60
supporters to advance.
Employees at the Amazon.com Inc fulfillment center in Bessemer,
Alabama, are voting whether to become the company's first
workers to join a labor union. Amazon employs over 1 million
workers and it is growing. Voting in the election continues
through March 29.
Democrats won passage of the legislation in the House last year
but it died in the Republican-controlled Senate. Now, with
Democrats holding marginal control of the Senate and with
Democratic President Joe Biden expressing support for the
legislation, it is getting more attention.
"While corporations and the wealthy continue to add to their
fortunes, workers and their families are being left behind,"
said Democratic Representative Robert Scott, chairman of the
House Education and Labor Committee, as he noted the decline in
union membership in recent decades.
About 10.8% of U.S. wage and salary workers were union members
in 2020, about half the level of the 1980s, according to
government figures.
The Democrats' bill would set penalties against companies
refusing to comply with National Labor Relations Board orders.
The National Association of Manufacturers has complained that
the bill would force workers to pay union dues, even if they do
not support membership, and argued that it would harm
employer-employee relations.
(Reporting by Richard Cowan; Editing by Leslie Adler)
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