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The Protecting the Right to Organize Act is a radically worker-friendly bill that would give freelancers like Leigh a chance to fight for more. Its intent is to patch holes in the tattered cloth of the 1935 National Labor Relations Act, which gives most private-sector employees the right to come together and speak out about conditions on the job. Recently passed by the House and now bound for a skeptical Senate, the PRO Act would make it much easier for workers already covered by the N.L.R.A. to organize and pressure employers to improve pay and health standards. It would also give millions of 1099 independent contractors and freelancers the same right to organize that traditional W2 employees have, greatly expanding the universe of workers covered by the N.L.R.A. As a freelance journalist myself, I’m especially excited about this part of the legislation.
Should the PRO Act clear the Senate, independent cosmetologists working for the same salon chain could collectively negotiate for masks and air filters. Freelance content producers at a marketing firm could openly share their hourly rates to check pay across race and gender. Postproduction television editors could unionize to negotiate over hours. And freelance construction workers could protect themselves from retaliation for reporting sexual harassment. At the same time, the PRO Act would not bar independent contractors from determining their own hours or rates, writing off business expenses or keeping their copyrights. Nor would it give one state’s freelancers an advantage over another’s.
