ARGENTUM ADVOCATES
A Close Look at the PRO Act— And How Argentum is Working For You
By Sara Wildberger
Williams says of the Protecting the Right to Organize Act (S. 420/H.R. 842), otherwise known as the PRO Act. In this interview, he outlines how this piece of legislation could affect senior living and other industries, and what Argentum is doing about it.
“I
Q. How are unions doing in the United States today—are they attracting fewer workers? Are they struggling compared with other times? A. In 2020, the percent of wage and salary workers who were members of unions—the union membership rate—was 10.8 percent. Membership went up in 2020, by 0.5 per- centage points from 2019. In 1983, the first year for which compa-
rable union data are available, the union membership rate was 20.1 percent and there were 17.7 million union workers. The highest union penetration occurred in the mid-1950s at 35 percent. Peak membership numbers were in 1979, at 21 million. Private sector union membership rose
slightly to 6.3 percent, up from 6.2 percent in 2019. Public sector union rates also in- creased, to 34.8 percent from 33.6 percent. Public sector union membership remains about five times that of the private sector, but on a pure numbers basis, there are 7.2 million public sector union members as compared to 7.1 million private sector union workers. So while they’re not at the 1950s peak, they are still doing fairly well. To get perspective, it’s good to look at
how quickly unions can accomplish elec- tions. The median time between the filing of an election petition with the National Labor Relations Board and voting being held was
44 SENIOR LIVING EXECUTIVE JULY/AUGUST 2021
t’s a solution looking for a prob- lem,” Argentum vice president of government relations Paul
about 31 days in 2020. The median from 2016 through 2019 was 24 days. This means unions have been able to get elections ac- complished impressively quickly. Unions also won the vast majority of
elections in 2020—70 percent—but that’s down a bit from 2019, when it was about 75 percent. The question becomes this: Why do you need legislation if your win rate is so high?
Q. What does this mean for health care work in general, and senior living in particular? A. While public sector union membership is quite high, private sector membership is near historic lows, at just over 7 million. That represents an attractive opportunity; there’s a lot of ground to gain in health care. Unions have had significant experience and success in organizing employees in skilled nursing settings, a work environment comparable to
PRO ACT DRAWBACKS
• Imposing on the full country California’s stringent definition of “independent contractor,” denying individuals the ability to work independently, threatening the emerging “gig” economy, and taking away the flexibility that has allowed American businesses of all sizes to grow.
• Increasing needless class action lawsuits by banning employment arbitration agreements.
• Denying employers any role in the union election process, which will ensure that workers can’t get balanced information about a critical workplace decision.
• Interfere with attorney-client confidentiality and make it harder for businesses, particularly small businesses, to secure legal advice on complex labor law matters.
• Impose personal liability on managers for alleged NLRA violations, along with penalties as high as $100,000.
• Take away employers’ ability to keep their workplaces open during strikes.
senior living. So unions see the senior living sector as a fertile ground for employee re- cruitment to organizing activities. It’s important that I make this clear:
Argentum is not anti-union. We believe workers have the right to organize if they choose, and if the matter is decided through an in-person, federally supervised election. The laws on the books cover this right, as well. We want to make sure employee privacy is protected and that they are not pressured.
Q. What is Argentum seeing emerging from this situation? A. I think you will see the Act’s supporters’ agenda emerge on two fronts. The one most people are familiar with is legislatively, through Congress, specifically through the PRO Act and related types of legislation. But there’s another front—the admin- istration front. Here, we’re likely to see
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