Pro PRO Act

 There are several exciting pieces of federal legislation that are at least getting talked about these days, including the American Jobs Plan, the American Family Plan, the For the People Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Act are a few. 

One near and dear to my heart is the PRO Act (as in Protecting the Right to Organize), which would basically overturn state anti-union right to work for less laws. (For a look at the slimy and racist history of right to work for less laws, check out this old post.) Undoing RTW(FL) laws would be a huge game changer in terms of raising wages and living standards for all workers, union or otherwise.

In a time when all eyes are on West Virginia, about which I have mixed feelings, our senators are split, with Manchin being in favor (!) and Capito opposed. 

The PRO Act was the topic of a commentary by an influential conservative WV commentator with whom I occasionally agree. It said in part that the PRO Act was "a federal overreach that infringes on the ability of individual states to conduct business and craft their work economies as they see fit."

Uhhh...the states rights argument in favor of regressive policies that keep people down has a pretty ugly history. In fact, I think some people used a version of it to oppose the emancipation proclamation.

Not exactly good company.