Free Republic

“Freelance journalists in California will either be out of work or face limitations on how much content they can produce,” CNN warned. Independent truckers shut down the Los Angeles-Long Beach port to protest the same disastrous law and are leaving California.The bill known as AB5 which restricts freelance employment so severely that it’s practically a ban on freelance workers has been blamed for contributing to the mass exodus with California unprecedentedly losing population every year that the law has been in effect.But California’s bad ideas rarely stay inside its borders.In 2021, House Democrats under San Francisco’s Pelosi passed the PRO...

Republican candidates can win in November if they prioritize important issues. Chief among them are supporting the freelance economy and opposing the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act. The GOP can appeal to disaffected independents and Democrats who feel voiceless without moderating their conservative beliefs. Here in Virginia, freelancers and their allies, alike, are making their voices heard by opposing bad bills. If Republicans want to win, they should join the fight for freelancers now. The Current Status of Freelancing in AmericaFreelancing is pro-family, pro-freedom, pro-free market— the very essence of conservatism. Men and women who freelance better prioritize...

For most of us, our daily interactions with others are based on common words, phrases and understandings. When someone says the sky is blue, we tend to believe that the sky is blue. When we talk with people other than our friends and family, we naturally believe that what they say is what they mean. That up is up and down is down. We believe the words we hear. But when it comes to politics, we might be better off being more skeptical and digging deeper to understand the truth for ourselves. That's because what is said is often the...

Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) was one of five Senate Democrats withholding support for the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act—until yesterday.While participating in this virtual event, Senator Manchin announced he’s now signing on as a co-sponsor, saying, "I look forward to working with my colleagues, on both sides of the aisle, to move this bill through a legislative process.”What an act of betrayal. Unsurprisingly, another holdout— Senator Angus King (I-ME)—also threw freelancers under the bus last week.Business groups immediately rebuked him. "It is very disappointing that Senator Manchin has chosen to side with union bosses over West Virginia’s workers...

Americans have suffered too long from this pandemic. But we can see a new day dawning on the horizon. Coronavirus infections are on the decline, and with three different vaccines now on the market, an end to the pandemic is within reach. Our economy is beginning to recover as people return to work. The unemployment rate plummeted from nearly 15 percent last April to just over 6 percent this February. State lockdowns are finally being lifted and our economy is getting back on its feet. Unfortunately, some lawmakers intend to exploit this critical time in order to pass a partisan...

It’s often been said that the states are the laboratories for the federal government. States can try a policy idea on a limited level to see if it works before Washington imposes it nationwide.But the Democrats don’t seem to understand how this works. You see, the idea is that if it doesn’t work, then Washington shouldn’t impose it on everyone. Yet what we’re seeing now with the Dems fully in charge is the exact opposite.I already warned you about the PRO Act, a national version of California’s AB 5 law. How did that experiment work out in the state laboratory?...

With no major labor reform since the 1930s, Democrats are seizing on the opportunity to strengthen workers' rights -- including their ability to unionize. On Tuesday, the House of Representatives passed the PRO (Protect the Right to Organize) Act, the most pro-worker labor reform in decades, according to the bill’s sponsors, by a vote of 225-206. Though it faces an uphill battle in the 50/50 split Senate, President Joe Biden has said that labor reform is one of his administration’s top priorities. The House passed a version of the bill last year, but it was dead on arrival in the...

With the rise of gig economy jobs such as driving for Uber and other forms of independent work enabled by the digital era, more than 57 million Americans now work as freelancers in some capacity. But President Biden just endorsed a radical labor law that endangers their livelihood. House Democrats recently reintroduced the PRO Act, which, among many sweeping reforms, would make many commonplace forms of independent contractor (freelance) arrangements illegal. It’s based on a California law that was so dysfunctional even voters in the very blue state voted to change it. “The Administration strongly encourages the House to pass...

As businesses struggle to keep their doors open and employees on the payroll, Congress is about to deal a major blow to thousands of businesses across the country resulting in significant job loss and stripping away employees’ right to privacy if they enact the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act. Despite the name of the legislation, the PRO Act goes far beyond just extending the union rights of employees. While the legislation attempts to increase union density and leverage, it fails to consider the negative impact it would have on workers, businesses and the U.S. economy. The bill would...

The Biden administration is blocking the exits for construction workers who unanimously voted to cut ties with their union. The National Labor Relations Board refused to allow a group of Indiana workers to hold a vote that would decertify their representation with the local carpenters' union despite the group's unanimous support for cutting ties. The group of workers submitted the request to the regional NLRB, which blocked the attempt to decertify. The board's lawyers allege that the workers are engaging in "bad faith" bargaining, according to the case filing. Indiana is a right-to-work state, meaning the state allows employees to...

Politicians are fighting for American workers, they tell us.They claim to represent their interests and endlessly beat the “pro-worker” drum. Does their rhetoric match their actions? Hardly. How can one be “pro-worker” while supporting legislation that destroys freelancing and displaces 59 million gig workers? They can’t. This position is anti-worker to the core. A growing share of the U.S. workforce—36 percent—is participating in the gig economy, compared to 10.8 percent that is unionized. Don’t be fooled by the PRO Act’s promise to “restore fairness” to the economy. It’s a Trojan horse designed to quash our nation’s burgeoning independent workforce. Dissecting...

My company uses a lot of independent contractors. I have employees but, given the nature of the work my firm does (short term projects), it makes more sense for me to hire specialists to perform certain tasks rather than bring on a new employee. I have been using essentially the same group of independent contractors for the past 10 years. Some of them work as little as 10 hours a month, others as much as 30 hours a week depending on the jobs we have. Clearly, I'm not the only small business doing this. Sites like UpWork, Fiverr, Guru and...

... Democrats are expected to pass a package of labor union-backed policies through the House even though the chances that the Senate will consider the bill are roughly nil. The Protecting the Right to Organize Act (PRO Act) would insert new language into the National Labor Relations Act to compel the payment of union dues even by non-members working in unionized professions. That means the passage of the PRO Act would effectively undo so-called "right to work" laws on the books in many states.* The PRO Act would also implement a veritable grab bag of policies that labor unions have...

Ten years ago Democrats chose not to use their 60-vote Senate majority to pass card-check legislation letting unions avoid secret-ballot elections. Even House Speaker Nancy Pelosi refused to bring up the bill for a vote. How political times have changed. House Democrats last week passed the PRO Act, 224-194, that would impose a back-door card check and gut the 1947 Taft-Hartley Act in the most sweeping pro-union legislation since the 1935 Wagner Act. The bill codifies Obama -era National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) rulings that overturned decades of labor law. Employers would have to hand over workers’ private information to...