Representative Rick Allen (R-GA) introduced the Employee Rights Act (ERA) of 2025 on Thursday, seeking to reform labor unions and support workers’ rights. The legislation, Allen claims, will provide privacy for unionized workers, allow workers to opt out of union representation, and harmonize existing labor laws.
Allen collaborated with F. Vincent Vernuccio – the president and co-founder of labor advocacy group Institute for the American Worker (I4AW) – to write an op-ed in the Washington Examiner explaining his bill.
Referencing the One Big Beautiful Bill, Allen said, “While the forthcoming tax cuts and spending reforms will deliver even more results, Congress also needs to modernize federal law to empower workers and improve labor unions to deliver a 21st-century economy that benefits the working class.”
Among other outcomes, the bill will allow unionized workers to choose what personal information their union can access, decide whether they are represented by a union in right-to-work states, and have the choice to opt-in to non-union-related spending.
Allen said, “It also enables workers to opt in to union political spending on an annual basis, undoing the current system in which workers are automatically forced to fund political activities they may personally oppose.”
“Perhaps most importantly, the Employee Rights Act eliminates loopholes that can distract unions from faithfully representing workers’ needs and wishes,” Allen said. “It prohibits DEI provisions in collective bargaining agreements, ensuring all workers are treated equally. It ends the judicially created exemption for union-related violence and extortion, so that such illegal acts are treated appropriately under federal law.”
The ERA hopes to reform the National Labor Relations Board, which, in recent years, is reported to have pursued overreaching regulations that may harm both unionized and non-unionized laborers.
Allen also hopes to use the bill to adjust the National Labor Relations Act of 1935, which gives citizens the right to organize trade unions and engage in collective bargaining.
“The Employee Rights Act has long enjoyed strong support among Republicans in both the House and Senate, to say nothing of the overwhelming majority of Americans,” Allen said.
Allen concluded by saying, “With the GOP holding Congress and the White House, it deserves consideration as soon as possible. President Donald Trump is already delivering for working Americans. Truly empowering workers and improving unions will help them rise and thrive for future generations.”