Labor Provisions to be Included in House Reconciliation Package

One of the first committees to report its portion of reconciliation, the House Education and Labor Committee reported its title last week. The proposal (text here, fact sheet here), which spends $800 million (more than half of which goes to child care and pre-K), included a number of pro-labor provisions, including funding for implementation of electronic voting, imposition of financial penalties on employers for unfair labor practices (ULP), personal liability for company directors and officers for ULPs, and prohibitions against employers permanently replacing strikers, employers locking workers out, captive audience meetings and arbitration agreements.

Ahead of the committee’s consideration of the package, the Coalition for a Democratic Workplace (CDW) released a statement opposing the inclusion of the labor provisions. NRMCA is an active member and supporter of the CDW and serves on CDW’s Lobbying Committee.

The bill did not, however, include the full PRO Act despite the labor priority being included in President Biden’s American Jobs Plan. The exclusion of this policy is likely in recognition that it will not pass muster with the Senate’s Byrd Rule, much like the $15 minimum wage, which was included in the House-passed version of the American Rescue Plan but dropped in the Senate.

For more information, contact Andrew Tyrrell at atyrrell@nrmca.org.