WATCH: Tlaib, Levin Host Workers’ Rights Roundtable

Today, Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib (MI-13) and Congressman Andy Levin (MI-09), member of the House Education and Labor Committee, held a workers’ rights roundtable to discuss what protections their constituents have under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) and the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

Even as the representatives seek to enshrine workers’ rights further in the law, they want to make sure workers know about the protections they have already under current statute. Elizabeth Kerwin, Acting Regional Director from the National Labor Relations Board Region 7 and Mildred Kress, Community Outreach and Resource Planning Specialist at the Department of Labor Wage & Hour Division joined to answer questions live.

You can watch the roundtable here or by clicking the image below.

“As an elected official who was raised in a proud UAW household, fighting to keep our country union strong and safeguard workers’ rights has and will continue to be a key priority for me. That’s why I’m so thankful for the partnership of Congressman Levin in this fight and especially for convening roundtables like this,” said Congresswoman Tlaib. “Making workers fully aware of what rights they have under the NLRA and FLSA is critically important to ensuring they are empowered to stand up for those rights when they are encroached upon—something that happens all too commonly in this country where putting profits before people is the norm.”

“I’ve spent the better part of my career fighting for workers’ rights: as a union organizer, at the AFL-CIO, as Michigan’s Chief Workforce Officer, and now as a member of Congress. That’s why I’ve been pushing feverishly to pass President Biden’s Build Back Better Act, which would create a meaningful set of financial penalties for employers who violate labor law. These penalties will ensure that employers comply with labor laws and will generate revenue that we can invest in our communities,” said Congressman Levin. “We know from experience that any pro-worker labor law reform will be met with fierce opposition. Overcoming this opposition will take an upwelling of worker organizing—both in terms of forming unions and workers telling their stories. The efforts underway currently in industries as wide-ranging as cereal production, coal mining, health care and digital media fill me with hope that we will be able to pass the PRO Act and public sector labor law reform soon.”