Dover councilman asks for PRO Act support
Protecting the Right to Organize Act of 2021 expands various labor protections related to employees' rights to organize and collectively bargain in the workplace.
During city council’s human resources committee meeting on May 17, Ward 4 councilman Bob Mueller asked committee chair Kevin Korns if he intended to address a proposed resolution to support the PRO Act. The national labor-reform bill aims to strike down “right-to-work” laws in 27 states. It would also make it easier for employees to form unions, require employers to reach a first collective bargaining agreement in a timely fashion, block employers from replacing workers who participate in an economic strike, prohibit employer lockouts and impose new civil penalties for companies committing labor violations.
Mueller said he is trying to line up support to pressure U.S. senators to vote for passage of the act, which was passed by the House of Representatives on May 17.
Korns said he did not think it was an issue the city should respond to at this point.
Mueller said, “Dover deals with three unions in-house already. All this is doing is promoting the option to join a union.”
Mueller said several members of council are former union members including himself. “I don’t understand why we can’t support this,” he said.
Committee member Justin Perkowski agreed with Korns. “Remember when the school asked us to support their levy, and we said no? Everybody has their opinions about unions, but I think at this point, council should remain neutral.”
Council President Shane Gunnoe said when the school requested support, council determined individuals could endorse or not endorse any legislative proposal, levy or political issue they wished.
“The majority of council felt, at the time, that unless the issue addressed the direct operation and functioning of the City of Dover, we did not need to issue a resolution or a statement one way or the other,” Gunnoe said. “But what this council chooses to do now is up to you.”
Korns said, “As chairman of the HR committee, I did not request a resolution on this matter. But since it’s out there, we’ll take a vote.”
The committee voted 2-1 not to move the proposed resolution out of committee, with Perkowski and Korns voting no and Sandy Moss voting yes.
According to Mueller, he asked law director Doug O’Meara to draft the proposed resolution after speaking with a representative of the AFL-CIO. “She and I serve together on the Hall of Fame Labor Committee in Canton,” said Mueller, who also said he intends to contact the representative to relay the result of the vote and to ask what her next steps will be.
“The committee vote fell along party lines, which didn’t come as a surprise,” said Mueller, who feels it’s important for council to support the legislation. “There are three unions council works with in the city: the police union, the firefighters union and AFSCME, which represents all other city workers.”
Mueller said he intends to bring the matter before council again.