Pressure for the PRO Act

Sneak Peak Episode 17 with Professor Richard Wolff

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Rounding up some news from this week: Sen. Joe Manchin joins the ranks of Democratic cosponsors of the PRO Act, legislation to end right-to-work laws and support union organizing. This move followed, among other efforts, DSA’s extensive phonebanking campaign in holdout states, which logged over half a million calls. The installation of the PRO Act, for example, would have prevented some of Amazon’s union-busting tactics in Alabama, where the Bessemer organizers are now challenging the results of a vote against unionzation. It will provide essential protections to incipient and existing unions, allowing workers to form and maintain a critical unit against capitalist oppression. Manchin has already felt this pressure and pledged support, leading to the next obstacle: Sen. Kyrsten Sinema. Yet again, Sinema’s total lack of solidarity with the working class was put on display through her sartorial choices:

Melanie Zanona @MZanona

Kyrsten Sinema, the Senate’s most colorful member, posts a pic of herself on instagram rocking a “F*** Off” ring & sipping what looks like Sangria

Meanwhile, our friends at The Daily Poster remind us that both Manchin and Sinema stand in continued opposition of another critical win for workers: the $15 minimum wage. The pair contributed to the defeat of legislation for a $15 minimum wage earlier this year. Now, they’re headlining for a key restaurant lobbying group that opposes such legislation (and they’re joined by Rahm Emanuel, former Chicago mayor and major union-buster). Manchin and Sinema are a basic lesson in the austerity and conservatism of the Democratic Party. But Manchin’s bend to progressive pressure in support of the PRO Act suggests that this party can be successfully opposed by an organized left. Sinema and her fellow holdouts will be feeling that pressure, too.