AFL-CIO’s Department For Professional Employees Sets Legislative Agenda

deadline.com:

The Department for Professional Employees, AFL-CIO, with which a dozen entertainment industry unions are affiliated, has set its policy agenda for the 118th Congress, centered on creating diverse talent pipelines, incentivizing diversity in hiring and strengthening creative professionals’ workplace rights.“Union professionals in the arts, entertainment, and media industries remain committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion,” said DPE President Jennifer Dorning. “The updated DEI policy agenda for the 118th Congress allows union creative professionals to continue building off gains made in collective bargaining that provide for more inclusive, representative industries.” Dorning told Deadline, however, that achieving those goals in this Congress – with a majority of Republicans in the House and a slim majority of Democrats in the Senate – will be no easy task. “It’s definitely going to be a challenge.

We see that,” she said. “But we see this as a long-term investment on our part, and our affiliates to create systematic change.

So we don’t expect to get everything that we want right away. We’re definitely in it for the long haul, and we’re going to working a lot to try to make change.” Passing the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act is DPE’s top priority, though it remains a legislative long shot.

Recently reintroduced in Congress, “It’s the labor movement’s No. 1 priority, and we’re going to keep pushing for passage,” Michael Wasser, the DPE’s legislative director, told Deadline. “I think we’re all realistic about the dynamics in this Congress, but that doesn’t mean we’re going to stop trying.” The Pro Act would greatly expand various labor protections related to employees’ rights to organize and collectively