An Emergency Petition to Protect 170 Million Americans’ Right to Act Collectively—With or Without a Union
First Amendment Petition of Grievances from US Workers to the US Congress
The “Paper Tiger”: America’s Clawless Labor Protection
Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act gives all American workers the right to extend their Constitutional rights of free speech, association, due process, equal protection under the law, and freedom from involuntary servitude—all extended to the workplace through the right to “act collectively” to negotiate better compensation and working conditions.
Perhaps the crux of the problem is ignorance of what a union truly is: two workers dreaming of better wages together in the breakroom is a union under Section 7, with all the same protections as the UAW or Teamsters.
In the spirit of the United States Constitution and the Free Market that we hold dear, we declare Section 7 a Paper Tiger—fierce in appearance, yet lacking the teeth and claws to protect 21st-century workers. The pro-union versus anti-union political battle blinds the major sides to the real problems most workers face when negotiating with their employers. The ever-present struggle between pro-union and anti-union sides has blinded you to the reality that you have all harmed the other 90% of the US workforce, who also rely on collective action to negotiate lawfully and on an equal standing with employers.
Workers First, Unions as an Option
Section 7 was intended to grant collective action rights to all American workers; however, those rights are often misinterpreted as belonging exclusively to unions. That’s backwards. The original intent was to give workers rights first; unions are simply one way to exercise those rights. The evolution to “unionize first, then negotiate second” has built a political struggle that mirrors the left-versus-right battle for power, leaving 90% of workers unprotected in the crossfire.
The current administration’s anti-union policies effectively neuter the National Labor Relations Board’s already weak enforcement capabilities, stripping Section 7 rights from the majority of workers who aren’t unionized. These workers labor in fear, never questioning the status quo, and often borrow from credit cards and payday loans to survive. Their employers frequently direct them to apply for food stamps to make ends meet.
We demand that you enter this petition in the Congressional record, address the grievances herein, with a law that Protects All Workers in days or weeks instead of months, years, or not at all, when the fear of employer retaliation and looming atmosphere of inevitable defeat rules the day. All thanks to your ignorance of what’s happening in millions of breakrooms across the United States every day. We will no longer live and work in fear!
The US Workers Alliance is organizing our power through this public petition, with an officially formatted petition bearing notarized representative signatures, to be delivered the week before Labor Day 2026. Congressional scorecards will track Congressmembers running for re-election and each of their challengers, with electoral mobilization in every competitive district.
This is not a protest movement. This is a political weapon being built to fill the halls of Congress with representatives who will truly stand with US workers.
TO THE HONORABLE MEMBERS OF THE UNITED STATES CONGRESS:
We, the workers of the United States of America, who built this nation, demand that you enforce Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act with immediate, meaningful consequences that respond in hours or days, not the current ineffective system that takes months and years while workers lose everything.
Your party affiliations have positioned each of you in a pro-union-versus-anti-union battle, leaving 90% of nonunion workers in fear of reprisals if they approach their employers. Meanwhile, corporate interests profit from your division, which leaves us defenseless against retaliation.
We have zero confidence in any member of Congress or the administration—your focus on the union minority over the majority of American workers has crippled protection for all workers to organize, discuss wages, and act collectively. But we offer you this choice: support the Protect American Workers Act (PAWS Act), vote for real enforcement, and stand with all 170 million workers—or we will replace you, one by one, until all stand with the workers. This is not negotiation. This is a notification.
Your inaction has led us all to this moment in history, when we must demand that you enforce worker protection laws over Corporate interests.
YOU NOW FACE A BINARY CHOICE:
OPTION 1 – STAND WITH 170 MILLION WORKERS:
✓ PASS the Protect American Workers Act (PAWS Act) into law
✓ Do not study it. Do not defer it to hearings. Do not read it into the record. PASS IT.
✓ Vote YES on final passage
✓ Put real enforcement in the laws that protect all 170 million workers’ right to act collectively
✓ Earn the electoral support of US Workers
OPTION 2 – STAND WITH CORPORATE INTERESTS:
✗ Offer symbolic laws instead of laws with enforcement
✗ Hold hearings that lead nowhere
✗ Read our petition into the record and do nothing
✗ Propose watered-down alternatives without enforcement
✗ Face systematic replacement, district by district
We will track every vote. We will publish every score. We will contest every election.
170 million workers, millions of petition signers. Every competitive district. Every close election. We are the margin of victory or defeat.
This is not negotiation. This is a notification.
History will record your choice. Workers will enforce the consequences.
WE WILL NOT BE SILENCED WITH SYMBOLIC GESTURES
We know the playbook:
Congress will attempt to neutralize this petition through symbolic victories:
- Reading it into the Congressional record
- Holding hearings that lead nowhere
- Expressing sympathy without action
- Promising to “study the issue”
- Creating committees that never report
- Offering watered-down alternatives without enforcement mechanisms
- Passing laws that look strong but lack enforcement
We reject all symbolic gestures.
We demand one thing and one thing only: passage of the Protect American Workers Act (PAWS Act) into law—a law that actually protects workers.
Not hearings. Not studies. Not expressions of concern. Not promises to consider. Not watered-down alternatives. Not laws without enforcement mechanisms.
PASSAGE WITH REAL ENFORCEMENT. NOTHING LESS.
Any member of Congress who votes against final passage will be scored as opposing workers, regardless of their symbolic support for workers. Any member who offers alternatives without enforcement mechanisms instead of supporting the PAWS Act will be scored as opposing workers.
The scorecard tracks only one vote: final passage of the PAWS Act.
Everything else is theater.
THE ENFORCEMENT FAILURE REVEALED
The Break Room Union Reality
When two coworkers discuss their wages in a break room, they form a legal union with all the rights of the UAW or Teamsters. This is not theory—this is law under Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act.
But this knowledge has been lost to workers over time. We are fed the same false story: that pro-union versus anti-union is the only thing that counts—unionize first, negotiate last. Those who discover these rights often lack the knowledge to utilize them effectively. And those who learn are too terrified to try—not because they’ve seen retaliation, but because the laws protecting them have no teeth.
In break rooms across America, millions of unions bud, bloom, and wither every day. Coworkers whisper about better salaries and working conditions, wish they could organize, then retreat into “if only” tones of defeat. The system succeeds not through enforcement, but through lack of enforcement that allows employers to act with impunity.
Randell S. Hynes, US Workers Alliance founder
In break rooms across America, workers silence themselves because the laws protecting them are not enforced.
Rights Without Enforcement Are Not Rights At All
Our worker protection laws are fierce in appearance but powerless in reality.
We possess “rights” that vanish when we try to use them:
- The right to organize without retaliation, but we can be fired instantly with no real consequences for employers
- The right to demand fair wages, but we risk blacklisting, while employers face trivial fines
- The right to safe working conditions, but employers act with impunity because penalties are meaningless
- The right to collective action—but we cannot afford the consequences, while employers can
- The right to protection from discrimination, but justice moves too slowly to matter, and penalties are too small to deter
These are not rights. These are suggestions that employers ignore because the laws lack enforcement.
THE SYSTEMATIC BETRAYAL OF OUR FIRST AMENDMENT RIGHTS
Every morning, 170 million Americans wake with terror in their hearts—not from foreign enemies or economic downturns, but from their own government’s refusal to put CLAWS in the LAWS that protect our constitutional right to act collectively.
The First Amendment protects our right to petition the government for redress of grievances. Congress enacted Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act to extend similar protections to the workplace, giving all workers the statutory right to act collectively when petitioning their employers. Yet Congress has failed to enforce this law with meaningful penalties.
The betrayal is bipartisan and complete:
- Republicans take corporate money and crush worker rights through anti-union legislation while refusing to enforce Section 7 protections.
- Democrats take union money, promote pro-union bills, while ignoring the 90% of workers who aren’t unionized.
- Both parties promise action during elections, then pass laws that look strong but lack enforcement.
- All politicians maintain this system through deliberate neglect of Section 7 enforcement.
THE ENFORCEMENT CRISIS
The National Labor Relations Act—our supposed shield—has become ineffective. Employers violate worker rights with impunity because:
- Penalties are meaningless – Fines are cheaper than compliance; employers profit from violations
- Justice is delayed – NLRB cases take years while workers face eviction; employers can afford to wait
- Retaliation is rewarded – Employers save money by firing organizers and paying trivial fines
- Protection is theoretical – Rights exist only for those who can afford years of litigation
A law without enforcement is not a law. It is a suggestion that employers ignore.
THE HUMAN COST OF UNENFORCED LAWS
We are not statistics. We are your constituents, your neighbors, your family members.
- The ICU Nurse: Fired for Demanding PPE During COVID-19. Her employer paid a $2,000 fine three years later. The law failed to protect her when she needed it.
- The Warehouse Worker: Blacklisted for organizing about unsafe conditions. His employer faced no real consequences. The law failed to defend him.
- The Tech Worker: Laid off for discussing salaries. Her legal protections were meaningless—her employer ignored them because the penalties were trivial.
- The Farm Worker: Retaliated against for reporting wage theft. His “protection” was slower than his family’s hunger and weaker than his employer’s profits.
These workers had rights on paper. But the laws protecting those rights were not enforced.
THE SOLUTION: THE PROTECT AMERICAN WORKERS ACT (PAWS ACT)
We demand legislation that puts CLAWS in the LAWS protecting our constitutional right to act collectively:
1. CENTRALIZED GOVERNMENT SYSTEM
- Single federal platform for workplace documentation
- Built into the existing IRS, SSA, and CMS systems
- Mandatory employer registration for all businesses
- Worker anonymity protection until demands are submitted
- Government-verified records preventing employer denial
- Accessible from any device, anywhere
- Automatic enforcement triggers when retaliation is documented
2. MEANINGFUL DETERRENCE
- Substantial penalties: $50,000+ per violation—high enough to make retaliation unprofitable
- Personal accountability: Executives who authorize violations face personal fines and potential criminal charges
- Expedited justice: Cases resolved in days, not years, with automatic penalties
- Universal protection: Coverage for all 170 million workers, not just union members
- Escalating penalties: Repeat violators face exponentially higher fines
- Criminal prosecution: Willful violations result in jail time for executives
3. RAPID ENFORCEMENT
- Pre-established evidence eliminates lengthy investigations
- Automatic case generation when retaliation occurs—no waiting for workers to file
- Immediate penalties assessed within days of documented retaliation
- Emergency relief for workers facing retaliation—reinstatement within 48 hours
- Automatic wage garnishment from employers who don’t pay penalties immediately
- Business license suspension for repeat violators
4. WORKER CONTROL
- Register activities anonymously from any device
- Document organizing, wage discussions, and safety complaints
- Choose when to reveal identity or submit demands
- Access government-verified evidence for enforcement
- Receive immediate confirmation of registrations
- Automatic protection activates upon registration—employers cannot retaliate without triggering immediate penalties
5. REAL ENFORCEMENT MECHANISMS
- No settlements below statutory minimums: Employers cannot buy their way out with trivial payments
- No delays: Automatic penalties if employers don’t respond within 72 hours
- No appeals without a bond: Employers must post the full penalty amount to appeal
- No retaliation loopholes: Any adverse action within 6 months of protected activity triggers automatic investigation
- No corporate shields: Personal liability for executives who authorize violations
WE DEMAND ENFORCEMENT OF THE LAWS
For too long, Congress has passed laws that look strong but lack enforcement.
The National Labor Relations Act promises protection but delivers only suggestions that employers ignore.
The Occupational Safety and Health Act imposes penalties but levies fines that are minor compared to the cost of compliance.
The Fair Labor Standards Act guarantees rights but provides enforcement that is so slow that workers often lose everything before justice arrives.
THESE LAWS LACK ENFORCEMENT. THEY ARE SUGGESTIONS, NOT PROTECTIONS.
We demand the PAWS Act—laws that actually protect workers:
- Penalties that make retaliation more expensive than compliance
- Enforcement that acts immediately, not years later
- Accountability that pierces corporate shields and holds executives personally responsible
- Justice that arrives within hours for days, not years or decades
A law without enforcement is not a law. It is a suggestion that employers ignore.
The PAWS Act empowers law enforcement.
THE ULTIMATUM
We have reached the limit of our patience with toothless politics.
To Every Member of Congress:
PASS:
- The Protect American Workers Act (PAWS Act) into law
- Not amended. Not watered down. Not “studied.” PASSED.
- With full enforcement mechanisms and meaningful penalties
- With real consequences that make retaliation unprofitable
- Vote YES on final passage or be scored as opposing workers
- No symbolic gestures will be accepted as substitutes
OR FACE:
- Electoral accountability for every vote against final passage
- Systematic replacement, district by district
- Congressional scorecards showing your vote on final passage
- Mobilization of 25 million petition signers against you
We will track only one vote: final passage of the PAWS Act with full enforcement mechanisms.
Everything else is theater. We will not be distracted. We will not be appeased. We will not be silenced.
PASSAGE WITH REAL ENFORCEMENT OR REPLACEMENT. Those are your only options.
NO SYMBOLIC VICTORIES
We have watched Congress neutralize movements for decades through symbolic gestures. Not this time.
We will not celebrate hearings. We will not accept expressions of sympathy. We will not be satisfied with promises to study the issue. We will not accept watered-down alternatives. We will not accept laws without enforcement.
We demand that the Protect American Workers Act (PAWS Act) be enacted into law—with full enforcement mechanisms and meaningful penalties.
When the petition is delivered to Congress before September 7, 2026, we will have one question for every member:
“Will you vote YES on final passage of the PAWS Act with full enforcement mechanisms?”
Yes or No. No equivocation. No symbolic support. No alternative proposals. No weak compromises.
Your answer to that question will determine your political future.
THE TIME FOR EMPTY PROMISES IS OVER
We will no longer accept “rights” that exist only until we need them.
We will no longer tolerate laws that protect politicians’ rhetoric but not workers’ livelihoods.
We will no longer participate in a system that criminalizes worker dignity through failed enforcement.
We will no longer accept laws without enforcement.
The era of unenforced worker protection must come to an end so that absolute protection can begin.
OUR SOLEMN PLEDGE
We pledge to use every peaceful, legal, and democratic means available to put real enforcement in the laws protecting our constitutional right to act collectively. We will vote, organize, speak, march, and act until Congress passes the Protect American Workers Act (PAWS Act) into law—with full enforcement mechanisms.
We seek not revolution but enforcement. Not destruction but fulfillment. Not new rights but real enforcement for the rights we already possess.
The era of unenforced worker protection is over.
We demand enforcement of the laws.
THE PAWS ACT: LAWS THAT ACTUALLY PROTECT WORKERS
The Protect American Workers Act (PAWS Act) is not another symbolic law. It has real enforcement:
IMMEDIATE ENFORCEMENT:
- Automatic penalties within 72 hours of documented retaliation
- No waiting for investigations—government-verified documentation triggers immediate action
- Emergency reinstatement within 48 hours for fired workers
- Automatic wage garnishment for unpaid penalties
MEANINGFUL FINANCIAL PENALTIES:
- $50,000 minimum penalty per violation
- Escalating penalties for repeat violators (double for second offense, triple for third)
- Personal fines for executives who authorize violations
- No settlements below statutory minimums
- Business license suspension for chronic violators
CRIMINAL ACCOUNTABILITY FOR WILLFUL VIOLATIONS:
- Jail time for executives who knowingly violate worker rights
- Criminal prosecution for systematic retaliation
- No corporate shields—personal accountability for decision-makers
- Federal charges for interstate violations
WORKER PROTECTIONS:
- Anonymous registration protects workers before they reveal themselves
- Automatic protection activates upon registration
- Government-verified evidence prevents employer denial
- No retaliation loopholes—any adverse action triggers an investigation
- Six-month protection window after protected activity
RAPID ENFORCEMENT:
- 72-hour response requirement for employers
- Automatic penalties if employers don’t respond
- No delays—appeals require posting the full penalty amount
- Cases resolved in days, not years
- Immediate relief, not theoretical protection
This is what real enforcement looks like.
This is what happens when Congress puts enforcement power in the laws.
Signed by the backbone of the United States of America, American workers who demand real enforcement of the laws protecting our constitutional right to act collectively.
THE PROTECT AMERICAN WORKERS (PAW) FIRST AMENDMENT PETITION OF GRIEVANCES will be submitted officially and adequately to the United States Congress by September 7, 2026, on behalf of 170 million American workers whose constitutional rights deserve real enforcement, not empty promises.
WE DEMAND ENFORCEMENT OF THE LAWS.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Q: What does the PAWS Act do differently? A: It provides real enforcement—immediate penalties, meaningful fines, personal accountability, and rapid justice. Not symbolic suggestions that employers ignore.
Q: How is the PAWS Act different from existing laws? A: Existing laws lack enforcement. The PAWS Act provides for penalties of $50,000 or more, 72-hour enforcement, automatic consequences, personal liability for executives, and criminal prosecution for willful violations.
Q: Will this hurt businesses? A: It will hurt businesses that violate worker rights. Businesses that follow the law have nothing to fear. The PAWS Act makes retaliation more expensive than compliance—as it should be.
Q: Why do we need new laws? Can’t we enforce existing ones? A: Existing laws are weak by design. They have trivial penalties, slow enforcement, and no real consequences. We need laws with real enforcement—the PAWS Act provides them.
Q: What happens if Congress doesn’t pass the PAWS Act? A: We replace them. District by district. Election by election. Until Congress is filled with representatives who will put enforcement power into the laws protecting workers.
Q: How will you track Congressional votes? A: We will publish scorecards showing each member’s vote on final passage of the PAWS Act—only one vote matters: YES or NO on the full bill with enforcement mechanisms.
Q: What if Congress passes a watered-down version? A: We will score it as a NO vote. We demand the PAWS Act with full enforcement mechanisms. Anything less is a symbolic gesture we reject.
WE DEMAND ENFORCEMENT OF THE LAWS.
PASS THE PAWS ACT OR FACE REPLACEMENT.
THIS IS NOT NEGOTIATION. THIS IS NOTIFICATION.