Richard L. Trumka Protecting the Right to Organize Act of 2025
Richard L. Trumka Protecting the Right to Organize Act of 2025 (S. 852) is a broad set of labor law reforms designed to strengthen workers’ organizing rights and increase protections and remedies for employees who seek union representation. The measure would redefine who counts as an employer and who is an employee in ways that expand coverage to more workers (including potentially many who are currently treated as independent contractors or disfavored in joint-employer settings). It would also strengthen and harden enforcement of labor rights by expanding unfair labor practices, adding new posting and disclosure requirements, speeding up and broadening representation elections, and creating more robust avenues for remedies and penalties, including civil actions and punitive-like consequences for egregious violations. Across these changes, the bill emphasizes pro-union organizing, stronger union protections, and stiffer consequences for violations of workers’ organizing and bargaining rights. If enacted, the bill would likely increase organizing activity and bargaining by giving unions more access, faster processes for elections and initial contracts, and stronger financial and legal tools to hold employers accountable. It would also shift some incentives and risks for employers, particularly those with complex staffing relationships, cross-entity control, or vulnerable worker classifications. The changes would affect employers, employees, unions, and the regulatory agencies that administer the labor laws, with notable implications for how labor disputes are resolved and how worker rights are protected in practice.
Key Points
- 1Redefinitions to broaden coverage
- 2- Redefines “joint employer” to include multiple persons who codetermine or share control over essential terms and conditions of employment, considering direct, indirect, reserved, or exercised control.
- 3- Redefines “employee” to almost universally treat a service provider as an employee unless the provider meets a tight, clarified independent contractor test.
- 4- Amends “supervisor” to tighten its scope and adjust how control over workers is determined.
- 5Expanded unfair labor practices and protections
- 6- Adds new prohibited actions by employers, including retaliation or discrimination against workers who participate in strikes, and actions to influence or undermine bargaining before or during strikes.
- 7- Prohibits coercive campaign activities and misrepresentations in certain election contexts.
- 8- Implements a framework for pre- and post-election procedures, including mediation and binding tripartite arbitration for first contracts when bargaining stalls.
- 9Elections, bargaining, and first-contract mechanics
- 10- Accelerates the election process: petitions lead to hearings and elections with a pathway to binding certification orders for representation.
- 11- Establishes a structured, time-bound process for negotiating first contracts, including deadlines for bargaining, mediation, and a tripartite arbitration panel if an agreement is not reached.
- 12- Expands and standardizes post-election procedures (notice, posting, and timing requirements) and directs faster scheduling of elections.
- 13Remedies, penalties, and enforcement
- 14- In unions’ favor, provides enhanced damages for unfair labor practices, including back pay with no offsets, front pay when appropriate, consequential damages, and liquidated damages equal to double the damages award; permits punitive damages in certain cases; and allows attorney’s fees for prevailing parties.
- 15- Removes some restraints on injunctive relief and strengthens enforcement tools, including civil penalties and officer/director liability for violations.
- 16- Broadens the right for employees to pursue civil actions in federal court for violations, with expanded remedies and non-offset back pay protections.
- 17Notices, transparency, and information access
- 18- Requires employers to post notices describing rights and protections and to notify new employees of this information.
- 19- Mandates that, within a short time after directing an election, employers provide labor organizations with a detailed voter list (names, addresses, locations, shifts, classifications, and contact information) in a searchable electronic format, with implementing regulations due within 9 months of enactment.
- 20Additional clarifications and conforming amendments
- 21- Provides conforming changes to the Labor Management Relations Act and the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act to align with the NLRA reforms.
- 22- Preserves certain allowances for fair share agreements under specified conditions, but with broader enforceability across jurisdictions.