Washington, DC -- Congressman Eliot Engel (D-NY-17) voted against a House Republican bill stripping the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) of its power and setting back labor relations to a time before the Second World War. 

“This is simply a terrible bill.  The benign title Republicans gave it – The Protecting Jobs from Government Interference Act – hides the terrible ramifications for American workers that it would produce.  You can pretend rat poison is apple pie, but in the end, it is still rat poison.  

“As the son of a dedicated Ironworker’s Union member, I have great respect for our nation’s history of unions fighting on behalf of working people.  I saw firsthand through my father how unions help the ‘little guy’ when, at times, it seems no one will.  The NLRB exists to give the ‘little guy’ a voice and a chance to achieve a better life. 

“As we saw recently in Wisconsin and other states, there is a push by some to stand in the way of workers’ unionization and negotiated rights. The Boeing case at the heart of the Republicans’ legislation is a textbook case of how workers need to be protected.  To have a company simply move their plant to avoid negotiating with their workers is a precedent that has chilling effects for American workers.  It brings labor relations back to the days when employers could demand anything and everything from their workers, with the threat of losing their jobs hanging over their heads. Thankfully, this dreadful bill will be killed in the Senate.”

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