Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-Nevada), a former member of the Culinary Workers Union, has been a champion for workers in the United States Senate, with a 100% rating from the AFL-CIO for her 2023 votes standing up for working people, unions, and our rights to organize and go on strike.
She was recently awarded “Labor Champion of the Year” by the Nevada State AFL-CIO.
As a former union member in Nevada, I know firsthand how unions lift up working families, and protect workers and their rights. In the Senate, I’ve been proud to support legislation that protects workers’ rights, supports working families, and puts Nevadans first…. I will always stand with Nevada’s labor unions and their efforts to advocate for families, better working conditions, and fair wages.”
-Senator Jacky Rosen
In 2022 Sen. Rosen invited a CWA Union president as her State of the Union virtual guest, to highlight the good-paying jobs being created for broadband deployment from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law she helped write and pass.
Protecting Workers’ Rights
Sen. Rosen is a co-sponsor of and vocal advocate for the Protecting the Right to Organize Act (the PRO Act), which strengthens worker power by protecting our rights to organize, bargain and go on strike.
“At a time when many hardworking Nevadans are seeing the cost of living outpace the wages they earn, we need to protect their right to organize and to bargain for higher wages, better benefits, and safer working conditions without fear of intimidation,” said Sen. Rosen.
The PRO Act, a top legislative priority for the labor movement, takes a comprehensive approach to restoring the balance of power in the workplace by blocking intimidating union-busting tactics, speeding union elections, providing new protections against employer retaliation, and helping newly organized workers secure a first contract faster.
Public Service Freedom to Negotiate Act
Sen. Rosen is an original co-sponsor of the Public Service Freedom to Negotiate Act of 2024, introduced in May in the U.S. Senate, which extends federal legal protections to ensure that all public workers have the right to organize, bargain collectively and engage in concerted activities.
Standing with striking workers – literally
When workers make the difficult decision to strike for better working conditions, Sen. Rosen doesn’t hesitate to stand in solidarity with them.
In September, she publicly supported Culinary Union workers who authorized a strike when their contract expired (the deal was settled a few months later without a strike).
And in October 2023 she joined striking UAW Workers on the picket line in Reno.
“Every member here knows that they deserve to be treated with respect and dignity,” Rosen said. “You know the unions built the middle class, (union workers) built this country, and they deserve to be treated that way. I’m proud to be out here and stand with them.”
Securing and protecting jobs
Sen. Rosen works to ensure that major federal legislation incorporates the needs of working families, including the right to unions and good wages.
● Sen. Rosen voted for the American Rescue Plan that saved the jobs of public employees and airline workers, and rescued the multiemployer pension plans covering more than a million union members and retirees.
● Sen. Rosen helped write and pass the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which supported millions of jobs in construction and manufacturing. The act also strengthened “Buy America” rules. Rosen was a leading advocate in the Senate fighting to include Davis-Bacon prevailing wage standards in the final infrastructure package.
● Sen. Rosen voted for the Inflation Reduction Act, which will create hundreds of thousands of American manufacturing jobs, in addition to reducing prescription drug prices for seniors and lowering energy costs. She is now a leading voice pushing federal agencies, particularly the Department of Energy, and companies to ensure IRA grant and loan guarantee recipients are using Project Labor Agreements.
● Sen. Rosen voted for the CHIPS Act, which grows U.S. supply chains for semiconductor chip manufacturing and ensures that the two new semiconductor plants being built with federal money will employ union-trained workers.
Fighting for higher and equal pay
Sen. Rosen has consistently championed legislation to increase the federal minimum wage, index the minimum wage to median wage growth, and phase out lower wages for tipped workers.
Rosen also joined her Democratic colleagues in the Senate in reintroducing the Paycheck Fairness Act, critical legislation that would help eliminate the gender wage gap and guarantee women the power to challenge pay discrimination and hold their employers accountable. The bill would strengthen the Equal Pay Act of 1963 by aiming to correct systemic pay discrimination and expand workplace protections for women.
“Equal Pay Day is a reminder of the pay disparity that affects women, especially women of color, all across the country,” said Sen. Rosen. “It’s long past time for Congress to pass this commonsense legislation and put an end to wage discrimination.”
Paid family and sick leave
Sen. Rosen is a co-sponsor of the FAMILY Act, which would provide all workers with 12 weeks of guaranteed paid parental, medical and caregiving leave.
She is also an original sponsor of the Healthy Families Act, which provides guaranteed paid sick leave to recover from illnesses, access preventive care, care for a sick family member, or attend school meetings related to a child’s health condition or disability.
The bill would allow workers in businesses with 15 or more employees to earn up to seven job-protected paid sick days each year. It would also allow victims of domestic violence, stalking, or sexual assault to use paid sick days to recover or seek assistance.
Protecting against abuse on the job
Sen. Rosen is a lead sponsor of the Sunlight in Workplace Harassment Act, which requires large, public corporations to publicly report all settlements and judgments related to incidents of discrimination, harassment, and sexual abuse each year.
“For far too long, sexual misconduct and harassment in the workplace have gone unreported and unheard,” said Sen. Rosen. “As the nation’s largest companies try to hide behind private settlements, Congress has a responsibility to improve transparency and create a safe working environment for everyone.”
Tax fairness for working families
Sen. Rosen is a co-sponsor of the “Tax Fairness for Workers Act,” which allows workers to deduct unreimbursed business expenses such as uniforms and equipment, business travel costs and job search expenses. The act restores workers’ ability to deduct union dues from their taxes “above the line” – meaning workers can benefit even if they don’t otherwize itemize deductions.
Standing up for organizing rights
Early this year, Sen. Rosen joined 32 of her colleagues in a letter urging non-unionized automakers to respect the rights of workers at their manufacturing plants as they organize with United Auto Workers’ (UAW). “All workers, no matter what states they live in, should have a free and unhindered opportunity to join a union,” the letter stated. “We strongly urge you to implement a neutrality agreement at your plants and commit to negotiating in good faith if your employees do elect to unionize with the UAW.”