In last week’s State of the Union address, President Joe Biden, who once vowed to be “the most pro-union president you’ve ever seen,” took the opportunity to endorse the “Protecting the Right to Organize Act,” more commonly known as the PRO Act. The long-discussed legislation, which was passed by the U.S. House of Representatives back in 2021, would represent one of the most sweeping labor reforms in recent history. By seeking to end right-to-work laws in 27 states and drastically restrict employer-employee relationships in other ways, it’s an attempt to bring union power back to its golden age.

One key feature of the PRO Act, however, has a distinct 2023 flavor: It would impose a stricter test for determining whether a worker is an independent contractor for the purposes of union organizing. This includes inevitable confusion as to a worker’s status and hefty fines if the worker is “misclassified” under the new definition. Despite proponents trying to distance the PRO Act from California’s failing Assembly Bill 5 (AB5), a legal report reveals that it would functionally have the same impact nationwide.

Even if a worker is properly classified, the complexity of the rule and its violations would still deter organizations—especially small businesses that cannot afford extensive legal counsel—from working with contractors altogether. That’s bad news in an economy where gig work is sometimes the best option for part-time, secondary, entry-level, or flexible jobs (regardless of whether the labor movement acknowledges it).

[Like most agenda items in a SOTU, it has little chance of passing. The Republican majority in the House likely won’t even bring it to the floor for a vote. It still serves nonetheless as an indicator of Biden’s sellout to unions and the progressive wing, even for a law that has already shown itself to be damaging to workers and the economy in California. — Ed]