PRO ACT—The Greatest Threat to Union & Open Shop Construction
Fearing Republican and moderate Democratic senators will move to block the passage of the PRO Act after the House of Representatives passed the bill, the AFL-CIO executive council unanimously called on the Senate to gut the filibuster. In its statement, the council said, “Senate rules cannot be used to block a workers first agenda,” and “[i]t is an agenda that cannot be delayed or denied.” AFL-CIO President Richard Trumpka said, “The PRO Act is our litmus test. It has to get done.” The negative impacts, however, of PRO Act enactment on the construction industry—union and open-shop—workers and economic recovery would be far-reaching.
The AFL-CIO President added, “I don't want to hear, 'Oh my, we don't have 60 votes, woe is we.' Figure out a way to do it.” A number of Democratic leaders are prepared to do just that by ending the filibuster, including, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (N.Y.), Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (Ill.), Conference Vice Chair Elizabeth Warren (Mass.), Steering Committee Chair Amy Klobuchar (Minn.), and Outreach Chair Bernie Sanders (Vt.). But in order to move forward, Mr. Schumer will need his caucus united in the vote since each party controls 50 seats in the chamber, and will need Vice President Kamala Harris to cast her vote as Senate president to break the tie. With no room for error, non-committal Democrats like Sens. Joe Manchin (W.Va.) and Krysten Sinema (Ariz.) are facing intense pressure from their own party and Democratic-aligned groups like the AFL-CIO and others to join the anti-filibuster movement. This pressure will only intensify as some of the more controversial aspects of the Biden agenda stall in the chamber.
For reference, Senate rules did not provide for a way to end debate and force a vote on a measure prior to 1917. That year, the Senate adopted a rule to allow a two-thirds majority to end a filibuster, a procedure known as "cloture." In 1975, the Senate reduced the number of votes required for cloture from 67 to 60. While this threshold was relaxed by Democrats for executive branch nominations and federal judicial appointments in 2013, and further relaxed by Republicans for Supreme Court nominations in 2017, the need for 60 votes to invoke cloture for legislative measures has remained intact for now.
AGC launched national action alert campaigns that asked construction professionals to voice their opposition to the PRO Act. Nearly 7,000 construction professionals took action on these alerts. Even more impressive, over 30,000 messages were sent to members of Congress and President Biden. In addition to mobilizing the membership, the association’s Construction Advocacy Fund recently financed a $250,000, multi-faceted digital advocacy and public relations campaign targeting constituents in 10 congressional districts represented by undecided representatives against the PRO Act. AGC and the Construction Advocacy Fund will work to block enactment of the PRO Act in the Senate under any circumstances.
Please visit agc.org/PROAct for information and resources about the PRO Act.