T his week, Rep. Cindy Axne (IA-03) joined over 100 of her colleagues in introducing legislation that would end tax breaks for corporate activity that discourages workers from forming a union.
While the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) protects the right to collectively bargain, corporations are spending an estimated $340 million a year on union-busting campaigns – with activities including hosting “ captive audience meetings, ” hiring expensive “union avoidance” firms , threatening to withhold benefits , firing pro-union workers, and more.
These expenses are currently tax deductible and are regularly written off as business expenses.
The No Tax Breaks for Union Busting Act would end taxpayer-funded anti-union behavior. Specifically, it would classify corporate interference in worker organization campaigns as political speech under the tax code, thereby revoking its tax deductibility.
Additionally, the No Tax Breaks for Union Busting Act would require corporations to report anti-worker interventions to the IRS to ensure they pay their fair share of taxes and do not receive undeserved tax deductions.
“Taxpayer dollars should never finance corporate greed and actions that prevent workers from securing higher wages, better working conditions, and better benefits,” said Rep. Axne . “This bill will make sure that we’re supporting workers – who are joining unions in record numbers – and defending the right to organize. I’ll always be a partner to the labor movement as we fight to ensure workers have a seat at the table.”
This bill builds on Rep. Axne’s recent efforts, including the introduction of the Locked Out Workers’ Healthcare Protection Act and Striking Workers’ Healthcare Protection Act, to protect striking and locked out workers and their families from losing access to their health benefits.
"Workers who engage in collective action and organizing drives deserve to have the chance to make their voices heard,” said AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler. “As we've seen a wave of union drives across the country, we've also witnessed a wave of companies using union busting tactics to stop their workers from organizing. We should not be subsidizing intimidation and bullying tactics, and this legislation would end this practice. Companies that engage in union busting shouldn't reap financial benefits; they should pay penalties.”
“For so long corporations, and the decades-long strategic anti-union campaign they have engaged in, have stood in the way of workers who want to fight for their rights at work,” said CWA Secretary-Treasurer Sara Steffens. “We are currently living through one of the most pivotal moments in the history of the labor movement as more and more workers around the country join together to form unions and fight for better pay, standards and working conditions. We have to do everything in our power to crack down on union busting and ensure that all workers who want to form a union have a chance to do so.”
“Companies like Starbucks spend millions of dollars union-busting and fighting their own workers, and then get to write off these expenses as tax deductibles. Starbucks is currently being prosecuted for over 200 violations of labor law in Western New York alone. The No Tax Breaks for Union Busting Act is a great step towards holding union-busters accountable,” said the Starbucks Workers United campaign.
“Taxpayers should not be forced to subsidize the efforts of employers to silence workers, and the federal government should not be incentivizing anti-union behavior. The No Tax Breaks for Union Busting Act would end this abhorrent practice and help restore balance to our economy so working families have a fair shake,” said Transportation Workers Union (TWU) International President John Samuelsen. “The TWU stands with working people across the United States in calling on Congress to pass this legislation and for the President to sign it into law as quickly as possible.”
“The No Tax Breaks for Union Busting Act is part of a broader push for labor law reform that will help us begin to turn the tide on a decades-old power imbalance that has harmed workers who are simply fighting for a better life,” said Marc Perrone, United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) international president. “Working people everywhere are rediscovering the power that standing together can bring to the workplace and it’s time that our labor laws once again help build that power by favoring hard-working American families, rather than union-busting, tax-avoiding corporations.”
A summary of the bill can be found here .
The bill is endorsed by the following organizations: AFL-CIO, International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE), United Auto Workers (UAW), Communication Workers of America (CWA), Service Employees International Union (SEIU), American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), Transport Workers Union of America (TWU), International Brotherhood of Teamsters, International Union of Painters & Allied Trades (IUPAT), United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW), United Steelworkers (USW), International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers (SMART).
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