Pasadena Congresswoman Leads House Dems Push to Allow Paycheck Protection Program Access for Labor Unions

On Tuesday, 105 House Democrats, led by House Small Business Subcommittee on Oversight Chair Rep. Judy Chu (D-Pasadena), sent a letter to House Democratic and Republican leadership demanding that labor unions be eligible for recovery funds made possible under the CARES Act, including the Paycheck Protection Program.

The letter notes that while faith-based nonprofit institutions and other nonprofits are able to benefit from the PPP, other organizations, like labor unions are not.

“The exclusion of labor unions is a serious impediment to achieving the main goal of the CARES Act — to help workers weather the economic effects of the crisis,” Chu wrote. “In January 2020, the Bureau of Labor Statistics estimated that unions represented 14.6 million hard-working Americans. Now, staggering numbers of union members who work in critical industries have been thrown into financial insecurity as company after company has furloughed or laid off millions of workers,”

The letter is also signed by Rep. Alan Lowenthal (CA-47) and Rep. Sylvia Garcia (TX-29).

According to an article in the Hill, unions claim the Trump administration has allowed some companies receiving federal aid to avoid payroll and other requirements under the coronavirus relief package.

The unions wrote a letter to Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer and Sen. Sherrod Brown asking for more worker protections in future aid packages.

The letter was signed by seven groups, including the Communications Workers of America (CWA), the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU).

“The CARES Act and PPP are meant to provide immediate help to workers and families suffering from the economic halt needed to contain the coronavirus. We cannot do that by excluding labor unions,” Chu wrote. “Labor unions are so vital to protecting the rights and safety of the workers who will be tasked with restarting our economy, even as the COVID-19 crisis spreads. Labor unions exist to protect our workers, and so we must ensure they are here now and moving forward, as the safety of workers is so essential to the wellbeing of our country.”