Brown Touts Efforts to Support Ohio Auto Industry at UAW Conference

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) spoke at the United Auto Workers (UAW) Community Action Program (CAP) conference. Brown discussed his efforts to support the Ohio auto industry and the need to pass laws that support workers, such as his PRO Act and Striking Workers Healthcare Protection Act. Brown also discussed additional legislation, the Locked Out Workers Healthcare Protection Act, which he plans to introduce this week. This legislation would protect the health care of workers who are locked out of their contracts and cut off from their health insurance.

"UAW workers in Ohio have built the cars our families have driven for generations," said Brown. "Today, Ohio's auto industry is helping us bury the term 'rust belt,' making the cars and trucks of the future.This industry is always innovating, and it's up to us to make sure the next generation of vehicles are made in Ohio."

Brown also spoke about the importance of negotiating a bipartisan innovation and competition bill that helps American workers and business compete with China. Brown is a member of the conference committee to negotiate a final bill based on the Senate's U.S. Innovation and Competition Act(USICA) and the House's America Creating Opportunities for Manufacturing, Pre-Eminence in Technology and Economic Strength (COMPETES) Actof 2022. Brown expects a quick negotiation of a final bill to send to the president's desk to be signed into law.

In March, Brown introduced his Striking Workers Healthcare Protection Act which would require employers to continue providing health insurance to workers exercising their right to strike, so working families aren't forced off the health coverage they've earned and aren't forced to pay out-of-pocket for potentially lifesaving health care. The bill would create a separate unfair labor practice category, punishable by fines, for when employers cut or alter workers' health insurance while the workers are on strike. The fines would vary based on their history of violations, size, the scope of the harm, and the public interest.

Last year, Brown introduced the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act, comprehensive labor legislation to protect workers' right to stand together and bargain for fairer wages, better benefits, and safer workplaces. Unions are critical to increasing wages and addressing growing income inequality-with studies showing that union members earn on average 19 percent more than those with similar education, occupation, and experience in a non-union workplace. The PRO Act would reverse years of attacks on unions and restore fairness to the economy by strengthening the federal laws that protect workers' right to join a union and bargain for higher wages and better benefits.