EPISODE · Aug 24, 2026 · 32 MIN
U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan on the Labor Caucus, PRO Act and Clean Energy Jobs
from America’s Work Force Union Podcast · host BMA Media Group
The federal minimum wage has been frozen at $7.25 an hour since 2009. The Congressional Labor Caucus has 128 members — and everyone must actually support the PRO Act to join. Clean energy projects that were creating union jobs across the Midwest have been canceled by the Big Beautiful Bill. And 50 million Americans would join a union today if the barriers were lower. On today's episode of America's Work Force Union Podcast, Wisconsin Congressman and 30-plus-year IUPAT member Mark Pocan discusses what worker power looks like from inside the House of Representatives. He covers the Labor Caucus membership requirement and why virtually no Republicans qualify, the 17-year freeze on the federal minimum wage and the $2.13 subminimum wage for tipped workers, what the Big Beautiful Bill did to clean energy job creation in Wisconsin and the Midwest and why organizing at Starbucks, Amazon and REI is some of the most exciting labor movement news he has seen in years. Visit pocan.house.gov and laborcaucus.house.gov for more.
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What this episode covers
Wisconsin Congressman and IUPAT member Mark Pocan discusses the Congressional Labor Caucus and its 128-member PRO Act requirement, the federal minimum wage frozen at $7.25 since 2009 and the $2.13 subminimum tipped wage, clean energy job losses in Wisconsin and the Midwest from the Big Beautiful Bill’s elimination of renewable energy incentives and why organizing momentum at Starbucks, Amazon and other non-traditional sectors represents some of the most significant labor movement growth he has seen in his career.
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U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan on the Labor Caucus, PRO Act and Clean Energy Jobs
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