Published
December 18, 2025
A group of Democratic lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives have begun shopping around a bill known as the Labor Enforcement to Securely (LET’S) Protect Workers Act, which would substantially increase penalties on employers for alleged violations of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) among other statutes.
The ranking member of the House Education and Workforce Committee, Rep. Robert C. “Bobby” Scott, introduced the bill on December 10 along with 70 cosponsors, a list that now includes 75 members.
As proposed, the legislation would impose fines of up to $50,000 for alleged unfair labor practices under the NLRA, which would double for repeat offenders. In addition, alleged child labor violations could result in fines of up to $150,000 per worker and up to $700,000 if the alleged violation results in the death or serious injury of a child. Wage and hour penalties would rise to $25,000 or $50,000 for repeat violations.
Scott’s LET’S Protect Workers Act was timed to coincide with a dubious report titled, “A Slap on the Wrist: How it Pays for Dishonest Employers to Take Advantage of Workers.” According to an accompanying press release, the report purportedly “illustrates how current civil monetary penalties for labor violations fall short, allowing dishonest employers to exploit workers.”
The LET’S Protect Workers Act reflects organized labor’s longstanding assertion that employers routinely seek to prevent their employees from exercising their rights under the NLRA to unionize, which has led to misguided proposals in the past such as the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) circa 2009-10 as well as the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act more recently. Both of these bills similarly included beefed up penalties for alleged unfair labor practices.
As with those other proposals, the LET’S Protect Workers Act is based on the flawed misconception that when employers exercise their own rights under the NLRA it is somehow sinister, even though the law exists to balance the interests of both employees and employers when it comes to labor relations—more specifically, the question of union representation.
While the LET’S Protect Workers Act has virtually no chance of going far in this Congress, it underscores what organized labor’s leaders hope to receive in their stocking during the holidays next year. Depending on how the 2026 midterm elections go, their political allies may be in a much better position to give them what they want.
About the author
Sean P. Redmond
Sean P. Redmond is Vice President, Labor Policy at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
