The publication is reproduced in full below:
LABOR IS THE BACKBONE OF THE AMERICAN MIDDLE CLASS
(Mr. HIGGINS of New York asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 minute.)
Mr. HIGGINS of New York. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the Protecting the Right to Organize Act of 2021.
The pandemic has made clear that we need to strengthen worker rights and expand union participation.
Across this Nation, frontline and essential workers have had to work in unsafe conditions with insufficient pay because of their inability to negotiate with their employers.
The economic fallout from the pandemic has laid bare the costs of severe income inequality in America, where corporations and the wealthiest individuals are able to thrive at the expense of everybody else.
Labor is the backbone of middle America and the key to addressing income inequality.
Protecting the right to organize and to collectively bargain ensures access to better wages, more robust benefits, and safer working conditions for hardworking Americans.
When workers are able to stand together and demand their fair share, we will all be better off.
I strongly support passage of the PRO Act and encourage my colleagues to do the same.
____________________
SOURCE: Congressional Record Vol. 167, No. 44
The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
House Representatives' salaries are historically higher than the median US income.
Alerts Sign-up