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Secret Ballot Watch

EFCA: Big Labor’s New Year’s Resolution

WASHINGTON, D.C., December 15, 2009 | Alexa Marrero or Ryan Murphy ((202) 225-4527)

It’s that time of year again when people begin to make their New Year’s resolutions – promising to hit the gym, eat better, or read more. For union bosses, their number one resolution will no doubt be getting Congress to finally pass their misnamed Employee Free Choice Act.

Admittedly, it has been a tough sale so far. With their failed “stimulus” package, a push for a job-killing national energy tax, and the latest government takeover of health care, congressional Democrats have not found the time to tack on another bad economic policy like “card check.” But all may not be lost for the special interests behind this anti-worker scheme. As today’s Politico reports, come 2010, labor union leaders will make a second push to enact their signature cause.


It’s not been the year that labor had hoped for when it helped Democrats seize control of both Congress and the White House in 2008.

The top labor legislative priority, a measure easing union organizing rules, hasn’t seen so much as a committee vote after negotiations over modified language took a back seat to passage of health care reform…

[L]abor’s top priority — passage of the Employee Free Choice Act — was in trouble almost the moment the Democrats were sworn in, stalled by the unexpectedly long effort to fill their filibuster-proof Senate roster…

Backers of the bill are hoping it will re-emerge as a congressional priority once health care moves from center stage. But even then, it’s unclear whether Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) has been able to hash out language acceptable to the moderates and conservatives in his caucus — a task made all the more difficult by the looming midterm elections.

Still, labor advocates remain hopeful.

Jeanne Cummings, “For labor, there's always next year,” Politico, 12.15.09

 


 

While hope may spring eternal for those advocating for EFCA, Americans struggling in this troubled economy can only hope that this bad idea is boxed-up and put away with the holiday decorations.

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