Sweeping anti-union bill weakens worker organizing, excludes undocumented workers from labor law

What it does

This bill restructures U.S. labor law to require secret-ballot elections for union representation, exclude undocumented workers from union voting and membership counts, mandate employer disclosure of employee contact lists to unions, restrict union spending on non-bargaining activities without explicit annual employee consent, redefine independent-contractor status to favor business classification, narrow joint-employer liability, shield franchisors from employment liability, allow non-union workers in "right-to-work" states to negotiate individually outside collective agreements, prohibit union contracts with diversity/equity provisions, and criminalize union violence while carving out minor picketing conduct. The bill benefits employers and independent contractors at the expense of union organizing power and worker collective bargaining leverage.

Why we flagged it

The bill's operative mechanism is systematic weakening of union organizing, collective bargaining, and worker protections through redefinition of employment status, exclusion of undocumented workers, individual negotiation rights, and dues restrictions. The title "Employee Rights Act" masks provisions that primarily benefit employers and independent contractors at worker expense.

• Section 6 exempts Indian Tribes and tribal enterprises from NLRA coverage—substantively unrelated to core labor-law reform and appears to be a separate policy rider.
• Section 9 amends 18 U.S.C. § 1951 to criminalize union violence—a federal criminal-law change distinct from labor-relations reform and potentially used to prosecute strike conduct.

What the text implies

• Employer disclosure of employee contact lists to unions (Section 4(a)) appears pro-union but enables employers to monitor which employees are targeted by organizers and to time anti-union messaging; the list is provided AFTER the Board directs an election, giving employers advance organizing intelligence.
• Exclusion of undocumented workers from union voting and membership (Section 3) effectively removes millions of workers from labor protections and collective bargaining, creating a permanent underclass ineligible for union representation—a de facto immigration-based labor-market stratification.
• Redefinition of independent contractor (Section 5(a)) explicitly excludes compliance with legal/regulatory requirements, health/safety standards, insurance, and performance standards from employee-status analysis—allowing employers to classify workers as contractors while imposing all compliance obligations, shifting liability and benefits costs to workers.
• Individual negotiation in right-to-work states (Section 7) allows non-union workers to negotiate separately, fragmenting bargaining units and undermining union contract enforcement; combined with dues restrictions, this creates a free-rider incentive that hollows out union membership.
• Ban on diversity/equity provisions in union contracts (Section 8) restricts union negotiating scope and may preempt state/local diversity requirements, centralizing labor-law policy against worker-negotiated equity measures.

Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.

Who it affects

Ordinary workers lose collective bargaining leverage, union organizing capacity is substantially curtailed, undocumented workers are explicitly excluded from labor protections, independent-contractor misclassification becomes easier and more legally defensible, and union dues restrictions cut funding for worker advocacy. Employers and franchisors gain liability shields and control over organizing processes. The bill's framing as "employee rights" masks provisions that systematically weaken worke

Who stands to gain

• Franchisors and franchise systems (liability shield under Section 5(d))
• Labor brokers and staffing agencies (narrowed joint-employer standard)
• Gig-economy platforms and independent-contractor employers (favorable contractor redefinition)
• Large employers with high union-organizing risk (secret-ballot requirement, individual negotiation,
• Non-union employers in right-to-work states (individual negotiation fractures union power)

Named in the bill

National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), Labor-Management Relations Act of 1947, Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959, Clayton Act, Norris-LaGuardia Act, Railway Labor Act, 18 U.S.C. § 1951 (Hobbs Act), Indian Tribes, Franchisors, Undocumented workers — and 1 more

Where it stands

13 cosponsors: 13 Republicans.

• Jun 26, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
• Jun 26, 2025 — Referred to House Committee on the Judiciary and House Committee on Education and Workforce · Congress.gov: “Referred to the Committee on Education and Workforce, and in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, for…”

Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.

Money around this bill

10 lobbying clients named this bill on 18 disclosure filings across 2 quarters, Dec 2025 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $4,876,377 in lobbying spend. A filing names 24 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.

More lobbying clients named this bill than 91% of bills with at least one filing.

Rick Allen, the sponsor, reported $565,250 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.

• American Hotel & Lodging Association — $1,680,000 on 2 filings
• AFL-CIO — $1,520,000 on 2 filings
• Primerica Life Insurance Company — $780,000 on 2 filings
• National Right to Work Committee — $410,000 on 2 filings
• Associated General Contractors of America — $216,377 on 1 filing

Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 20, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.