It’s time to pass the PRO Act

To the Editor:

In November, America’s voters made history by electing Joe Biden and Kamala Harris as president and vice president, respectively, of the United States. In January, voters here in Georgia shocked the nation two more times with the elections of Sens. Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock.

Now, with a pro-worker majority in the House, Senate and White House, America’s labor movement has a real chance to build the power of working people like never before.

This raises the question: How?

The answer is with the passage of the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act, the most significant worker empowerment legislation since the Great Depression.

If passed, it would dramatically increase penalties for employers that violate workers’ rights; protect strikes and other protest activity; streamline the process for reaching a collective bargaining agreement once a union is formed, and so much more.

This isn’t just any bill — it’s civil rights legislation, protecting women, immigrants, people of color and the LGBTQ community, and economic stimulus, putting more money in the pockets of workers, which helps our economy build back better. It’s a generational opportunity for the more than 60 million workers who want to join a union but haven’t found the path to get there under current law.

There’s no going back: It’s time for accountability and action. It’s time to pass the PRO Act.

Yvonne Brooks

Atlanta