The House voted 225-206 to pass a sweeping labor rights bill Wednesday evening that would make it easier for workers to unionize and provide them increased power in workplace disputes.
Driving the news Five Republicans joined Democrats in favor of the Protecting the Right to Organize Act.
Yes, but: The bill is likely to stall in the Senate, where it needs 60 votes to pass. but is opposed by many Republican senators.
What they're saying: President Biden endorsed the bill on Tuesday, saying in a statement that it "would dramatically enhance the power of workers to organize and collectively bargain for better wages, benefits, and working conditions."
- "As America works to recover from the devastating challenges of deadly pandemic, an economic crisis, and reckoning on race that reveals deep disparities, we need to summon a new wave of worker power to create an economy that works for everyone."
The big picture: The PRO At would restrict companies like Uber and Lyft from classifying workers as independent contractors and improve protections for workers' right to strike, according to the Economic Policy Institute.
- Biden in the beginning of March said he supported a union vote by Amazon warehouse workers in Alabama that, if passed, would be the first Amazon warehouse to unionize.
