STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1485

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.C.R. No. 164

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2021

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Labor, Culture and the Arts, to which was referred S.C.R. No. 164 entitled:

"SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION URGING THE UNITED STATES CONGRESS AND PRESIDENT JOSEPH R. BIDEN TO ENACT THE PROTECTING THE RIGHT TO ORGANIZE ACT,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to urge the United States Congress and the President of the United States to enact the Protecting the Right to Organize Act of 2019, H.R. 2474, 116th Cong., 2d Sess. (2019-2020) (PRO Act of 2019) as expeditiously as possible.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Hawaii Government Employees Association, AFSCME Local 152, AFL‑CIO; Hawaii State AFL-CIO; Hawai‘i Workers Center; International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 1260; International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local Union No. 1186; International Longshore & Warehouse Union Local 142; International Union of Painters and Allied Trades, District Council 50; LGBT Caucus of the Democratic Party of Hawai‘i; Musicians' Association of Hawaii, Local 677, American Federation of Musicians, Building Corporation; Plumbers and Fitters United Association, Local 675; Pride at Work Hawai‘i; Rainbow Family 808.com Inc.; United Public Workers, AFSCME Local 646, AFL-CIO; and one individual. Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Associated Builders and Contractors, Hawaii Chapter.

Your Committee finds that from 1980 to 2014, wages for the bottom half of income earners in the United States grew by one percent, while wages for the top one percent of income earners grew by two-hundred five percent as a result of policy and court decisions that have stripped workers of the power to stand together and bargain for fairer wages, meaningful benefits, and proper working conditions. Your Committee further finds that unionized workers earn over thirteen percent more than comparable nonunionized workers and receive fairer wages, better benefits, and have better working conditions. However, special-interest attacks on state and federal labor laws have eroded union membership among workers from thirty-three percent in 1956 to just ten percent in 2018. Your Committee also finds that on February 6, 2020, the United States House of Representatives passed the PRO Act of 2019, which protects the basic rights of workers to join a union by empowering workers to exercise their right to organize, holding employers accountable for violating workers' rights, and securing free, fair, and safe union elections. Your Committee finds that the enactment of the PRO Act of 2019 is crucial in restoring a healthy balance between the rights of labor and management and raising the standard-of-living of the working class in the United States.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Replacing the United States Congress with the United States Senate since the United States House of Representatives has already passed the PRO Act of 2019; and

(2) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Labor, Culture and the Arts that is attached to this report, your Committee concurs with the intent and purpose of S.C.R. No. 164, as amended herein, and recommends its adoption in the form attached hereto as S.C.R. No. 164, S.D. 1.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Labor, Culture and the Arts,

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BRIAN T. TANIGUCHI, Chair