CO-SPONSORSHIP of the RAISE Act (Senate)

CO-SPONSORSHIP of the RAISE Act (Senate)

Last week, Senator Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) introduced the Rewarding Achievement and Incentivizing Successful Employees (RAISE) Act (S. 2371). The RAISE Act would allow employers to pay individual union workers more than the union contract specifies. Currently, collective bargaining agreements set both a floor and a ceiling on wages, meaning that while workers cannot be paid below a certain amount they also cannot be paid above a certain amount, thus eliminating true performance-based pay.

The legislation is necessary because unions have actually fought to prevent bonuses from being awarded to their own members. The National labor Relations Board (NLRB) has sided with the unions, and not the workers, in such cases, claiming the bonuses constituted an illegal "direct dealing" with the workers. "Direct dealing" is forbidden under collective bargaining law. This means that if a union worker works hard, takes initiative and proves to be an indispensable asset to their actual employer, they can't be rewarded unless the union approves.

This creates the false dynamic that the union, not the actual company, is the source of their income. Hard workers end up being held back while less productive workers are propped up. It creates a perverse incentive that runs contrary to the spirit and values that built America.

The RAISE Act would not eliminate the floor set by collective bargaining agreements, but would remove the pay ceiling; thus allowing exceptional employees to be compensated as such. It also does not allow employers to unfairly rewardnon-union workers with raises just to punish union workers. Simply put, it is not union busting, but a way of rewarding deserving employees.

Heritage Action supports (S. 2371) and will include CO-SPONSORSHIP of this legislation in our scorecard.

Related:

Heritage Action's Legislative Scorecard
Key Vote Alert: CO-SPONSORSHIP of the RAISE Act (House)
Heritage: Rewarding Achievement and Incentivizing Successful Employees (RAISE) Act
RAISE Act Lifts Pay Cap on 8 Million American Workers