03.31.09

Employee Free Choice Act Update:

Specter flips, and fight for workplace fairness continues

Sen. Arlen Specter, R.-Pa., has announced a major flip-flop. After signing on as a co-sponsor of the Employee Free Choice Act in 2005, he said last week that he will not only vote against the bill this year, but also support a GOP filibuster -- demanded by Big Business -- that will prevent an up-or-down vote on the bill. 

Reacting to Specter’s announcement, the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) admitted that corporate America’s strategy to stop much-needed labor law reforms is to block any vote at all on the subject on the floor of the Senate.

Business lobbyists will urge legislators to "oppose any vote on EFCA, procedural or otherwise," said NAM President John Engler, a former Republican governor of Michigan.

Using a filibuster to stop the democratic process in its tracks is pretty much the only option for Big Business.  According to an independent poll by the Gallup Organization, a majority of Americans support reforms to make it easier for workers to form their own unions.

The Employee Free Choice Act is supported by a majority of the House, a majority of the Senate, and President Obama.  The bill requires employers to recognize a union based on majority sign-up, implements arbitration of first contracts, and stiffens penalties against employers who illegally retaliate against union activists,

UAW members, along with allies in the labor movement and beyond, are continuing to campaign for the Employee Free Choice Act and other common-sense reforms that will restore fairness to the American workplace. 

The case for change in our nation's labor laws was eloquently explained in 2007 -- by none other than Arlen Specter, back when he was still a supporter of Employee Free Choice:

From Specter's remarks to the Senate in 2007:

"I have heard evidence indicating that employees are often denied a meaningful opportunity to determine whether they will be represented by a labor union. ... I am talking about threats, spying, promises, spreading misleading information, and other attempts to coerce workers and interfere with their right to determine for themselves whether they wish to be represented by a labor organization.

"“Based on what I have heard, I have concerns that we have lost the balance of the National Labor Relation Act's fundamental promise -- that workers have the right to vote in a fair election conducted in a non-threatening atmosphere, free of coercion and fear, and without undue delay. Workers should be assured that their decisions will be respected by their employer and the union -- with the support of the government when necessary."