Digital Ads Against the PRO Act
From February 2-6, the Construction Advocacy Fund financed an AGC effort to engage a construction-friendly audience on Facebook through the placement of digital ads in the lead up to a vote in the U.S. House of Representatives on the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act. The ads were run in the following congressional districts where members of Congress were undecided on the legislation: AK-AL, CA-16, CA-48, CA-52, FL-7, FL-18, FL-25, NY-1, NY-24, OK-5, and SC-1. The ads, which were seen by over 600,000 Facebook users, urged individuals to tell their representative to oppose the bill.
For reference, the PRO Act is an unprecedented attempt to fundamentally change dozens of well-established labor laws to assist organized labor without regard to their detrimental impact on workers, employers—union and open-shop—and the economy. If enacted, the PRO Act would completely upend decades of work to balance employee and employer rights and restrictions settled in courts, the National Labor Relations Board, and Congress.
Among the bill’s provisions, it would:
- Eliminate “secondary boycott” protections that would allow unions to launch disruptive protests and pickets against any employer, even those having nothing to do with a labor dispute;
- Strip away employees’ Right-to-Work protections, which have been established in 27 states, requiring all employees to contribute fees to a labor organization;
- Impose a “backdoor card check” exception to employees’ well-established right to a secret ballot election where they can freely vote their choice without intimidation by employer or union;
- Codify the “quickie” or “ambush” election rules that limit employees’ access and opportunity to consider information about the union seeking to represent them;
- Expand joint employer liability that could alter well-settled subcontracting practices in the construction industry;
- Hinder contractors’ ability to secure legal advice on complex labor matters; and
- Establish an overly restrictive independent contractor test.
Project Details
DATE
February 2020
CLIENT
AGC of America
PROJECT TYPE
Digital Advocacy