Hamsher: "Feinstein, Specter Compromises Pave the Way for Passage of Employee Free Choice Act"

Jane Hamsher:

New compromise measures supported by Diane Feinstein and Arlen Specter may pave the way for the passage of the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA).

With 900,000 union members in the state of Pennsylvania, the Arlen Specter firewall appears to be crumbling. He knows he can't win a Democratic primary in Pennsylvania without labor, and they have made it clear that their support is contingent on his vote on Employee Free Choice.

Which is why Penny Pritzker and fellow billionaires are getting nervous, publicly breaking with the White House and President Obama over his support for the bill.

The "centrist" Dems of the Senate, led by Tom Harkin, know they won't be able to shrug and say "what can we do, we only have 59 votes" much longer. They have thus been trying to write an acceptable compromise so the party's progressives (including the unions) don't decide to stay home when Specter and others need their help in the 2010 elections.

According to the National Journal:

[Diane Feinstein's] proposal would replace the card-check provision, which would allow workers to unionize if a majority signed authorization cards and strip a company's ability to demand a secret ballot election. "It's a secret ballot that would be mailed in ... just like an absentee ballot. The individual could take it home and mail it in," Feinstein said. If a majority mailed the ballots to the National Labor Relations Board, the NLRB would recognize the union.

As Harkin says, the Feinstein compromise has the advantage of "protecting the secret ballot, so people can do it in private," which neutralizes that particular right-wing criticism of the bill.

The other bone of contention has been arbitration clause of the Employee Free Choice Act. Specter himself supports "last best offer" arbitration. It's also called "baseball arbitration," and has incentives to get both parties to quickly make their best, most reasonable offer. Bill Samuel of the AFL-CIO says "we're open to that."

Labor will no doubt be disappointed with such sacrifices to the bill, but if it means getting something passed, they will probably be happy to make these concesssions which satisfy the demands of critics like Blanche Lincoln, Mark Pryor, Jim Webb, Michael Bennet, Mark Udall and Ben Nelson.

George McGovern was recently dis-invited from the Progressive Magazine's 100th anniversary event because of his outspoken opposition to the bill on behalf of his good friend Rick Berman. If McGovern is interested in reclaiming his reputation among progressives as something more than the pawn of a right wing astroturfing scumbag, he now has the opportunity to acknowledge that these compromises would satisfy his concerns.

"Big Business Group Unleashes $1 Million Ad Blitz Against EFCA" (with video)

Greg Sargent (The Plum Line) with video (00:30):

The ad wars over the Employee Free Choice Act are gearing up in a big way, with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce — the massive business group that is one of the measure’s most determined and well-funded opponents — launching a $1 million ad campaign in multiple states against the measure.

Here’s the Virginia version of the ad, which will also run in Nebraska, Lousiana, North Dakota, and Colorado, all home to Democratic Senators who are wavering in their support of the bill or have said they’ll back it going to the floor for a vote:



The ad makes it clear that the anti-EFCA forces don’t think they have this battle locked up, despite recent reports that supporters won’t be able to muster the 60 votes in the Senate they need to break the GOP filibuster and get it passed.

It charges that Congress wants to “strip away” the secret ballot, a reference to the measure’s provision which would allow unions to vote to join a union without a secret ballot. It has strong echoes of the campaign that defeated health care in the 1990s, charging that a “bureaucrat from Washington” will have control over private businesses and will devastate small businesses if it passes. That’s an apparent reference to the provision that would mandate that Federal arbitration kicks in quickly if union-management talks break down.

The ad reflects the anti-EFCA forces’ strategy of keeping the conversation focused on those two provisions, rather than on the plight of workers under the current system — the rhetorical turf that labor would prefer to fight the battle on, since that terrain gives an edge to the unions.

"Greed - National TV Ad for the Employee Free Choice Act" (video)

EmployeeFreeChoice, video (00:30):

National ad about the Employee Free Choice Act, a bill to help bring back the middle class. Learn more at FreeChoiceAct.org.

H/t to Ben Smith.

Bailouts and EFCA: "Obama's labour play"

Financial Post (UK):

As Barack Obama, the U.S. President, strong-arms the powerful United Auto Workers union into making major concessions in exchange for more auto-industry bailout money, elsewhere he's backing an initiative that could lead to the biggest resurgence in unionization across the United States in decades.

The U. S. President is firmly behind so-called card check, controversial legislation that would make it significantly easier for workers to organize.

Rather than go through the secret-ballot election process now in place that lets companies campaign against the union, workers could unionize simply by signing cards.

Passage of the bill, formally known as the Employee Free Choice Act, or EFCA, is a top priority for organized labour, which helped lead Mr. Obama and his Democratic party to a sweeping victory in the last election. It has enlisted actor Martin Sheen, who played the U.S. president in TV drama The West Wing, to help sell it.

Big Business is vehemently opposed to the legislation, arguing that unions could coerce workers into signing cards. Business groups also are fretting about another provision in the bill that would allow an arbitrator to set the terms of a first contract, including employee wages, if a company and its newly organized workers couldn't agree on a new contract within four months.

Mr. Obama's pro-labour push comes as the behemoth United Auto Workers Union could see its power significantly diminished as part of the U. S. government's demands that ailing automakers General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC slash costs before they get billions of dollars more in taxpayer-funded bailout money.

Meanwhile, a bankruptcy filing by GM could threaten much of the union's very existence, although industry observers don't believe the President would allow the company's union representation to be wiped out.

"That would be almost political suicide for a Democratic president," said Robert Bruno, a labour relations professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

While Mr. Obama may have had no choice but to play tough with the UAW, observers don't doubt his continued support for the card check bill.

As recently as a couple of weeks ago, it looked as though it was all but certain to pass. It has since gone into limbo, however, after Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Spector, a pivotal Republican vote the Democrats were counting on, announced he's now opposed to the legislation.

With the U. S. Senate now shy of the 60 votes it needs, Mr. Obama and other lawmakers could push for a filibuster, which would undoubtedly garner a lot of public attention and perhaps lead to the bill's passage. Or labour might offer some concessions to make the legislation more palatable to certain lawmakers.

"I don't think it's dead," Mr. Bruno said. "Arlen Spector switching his vote really complicates matters. But it's quite possible that organized labour could persuade the Democratic leadership to call for a vote and then require the Republicans to participate in an old-fashioned filibuster. They don't really happen anymore, but it could be a real donnybrook."

Others aren't convinced it will get passed as is.

"The smart money says that EFCA is not going to become law, but maybe some version of it -- an EFCA-lite -- probably will," said Michael Lotito, a lawyer in the San Francisco office of Jackson Lewis, which represents employers in labour law issues. "Instead

of card check, there could be faster elections and provisions for more robust mediation in arbitration."

The act has about a 60% approval rating from the American public.

While Big Labour has Martin Sheen on its side, Joe the Plumber -- a. k. a. Joe Wurzelbacher, who sprang to national attention when Republican Senator John McCain make him part of the presidential debate -- has been touring Pennsylvania to speak out against card check on behalf of a business group.

The Big Business lobby is arguing that more unions in the workplace could destroy jobs at a time when unemployment is surging.

Organized labour counters that places with card check provisions, including certain provinces in Canada, have shown no meaningful increase in unemployment when workers unionize.

Union supporters complain that employers dominate workplaces, adding that the legislation will help level the playing field by making it harder for workers to be intimidated by their employers.

Failure to get card check passed would be a stunning blow to organized labour, which hasn't seen such an opportune time to push its agenda in perhaps a half a century.

The United States, which has become increasingly pro-business since Ronald Regan was sworn in as president in the 1980s, has seen its union representation slip to less than 8%, down from a peak of 35% peak in the mid-1950s.

"There's not been any labour law reform here in decades," said Joel Rogers, a pro-labour law professor at the University of Wisconsin. "You could describe the pace as glacial, if glaciers weren't melting so fast."

If card check passes, union groups estimate as many as one million new union members could be signed up a year.

Mr. Bruno of the University of Illinois said union representation could start heading back to record highs over the next several years.

"Once you get the density up and add to it a company like Wal-Mart or one of the big foreign auto transplants, you would then have tremendous influence over the market," he said.

Barack Obama

Ed Schultz breaks it down: "Employee Free Choice Act" (video)

MSNBC, video (08:37).

Howie P.S.: Schultz lays out the political issues at stake with this legislation in his latest "OPEd" segment.