Andy Levin on Jobs

Too many of our jobs have been offshored or contracted out

Andy Levin: Too many of our jobs have been offshored, contracted out, privatized and made part-time or temporary, and the result is many among us won't be able to enjoy a middle-class life and retirement. It's time to put what's good for hardworking Americans at the center of every policy decision: taxation, education, regulation, economic development. We also need to help our workers transition to the jobs of tomorrow, like we did when, as Michigan's first Chief Workforce Officer, we created "No Worker Left Behind," helping 120,000 get new jobs during the Great Recession.

Too many jobs have been offshored and privatized

No Worker Left Behind: 120,000 jobs during Great Recession

Sponsored bill for strengthening union organizing.

H.R.842 & S.420: Protecting the Right to Organize Act: This bill expands various labor protections related to employees' rights to organize and collectively bargain in the workplace:

1. revises the definitions of employee, supervisor, and employer to broaden the scope of individuals covered by the fair labor standards;
2. permits labor organizations to encourage participation of union members in strikes initiated by employees represented by a different labor organization (i.e., secondary strikes); and
3. prohibits employers from bringing claims against unions that conduct such secondary strikes.

Biden Administration in SUPPORT: The Administration strongly supports The PRO Act. America was not built by Wall Street. It was built by the middle class, and unions built the middle class. Unions put power in the hands of workers. H.R. 842 would strengthen and protect workers' right to form a union by assessing penalties on employers who violate workers' right to organize.

Rep. Mo Brooks in OPPOSITION: H.R. 842 [is] a radical union bill that tramples the rights of citizens by forcing them to enter into union servitude, including:

• Overturns right-to-work laws in 27 states, thereby forcing citizens, against their will, to pay millions of dollars in dues to labor unions.
• Denies citizens' rights to vote by secret ballot on whether to join a union by imposing a biased "card-check" scheme.
• Deprives individuals of entrepreneurial opportunities. The PRO Act would eliminate the franchise industry and sharing economy as we know them.