Senate Republicans blocked a vote on the “Employee Free Choice Act” today via a cloture vote, effectively ending consideration of the legislation that would ironically enough end private votes for union certification in favor of public, mandatory “card checks.”
The AFL-CIO vows to fight on since the ability to strong-arm employees and use peer pressure and fraud to obtain certifications is worth fighting for. Here’s what they have to say…
The battle for the Employee Free Choice Act moves to the 2008 election after a handful of obstructionist senators have blocked a vote on the bill. On a vote of 51-48, the Senate voted for cloture, that is, shutting off debate. Sixty votes were needed to invoke cloture and end the debate and move to a vote on the bill. So even though a majority of the Senate voted for cloture, a small group of Republicans denied workers a free choice to join a union.
To which the EFCA Updates website rightly asks:
We make two observations at this point. First, when labor’s allies immediately threaten all-out political war against United States Senators who disagree with them, is it hard to understand why some might be worried about union intimidation of an average worker who might not want to sign an authorization card? Second, when labor refers to 48% as a “small group,” isn’t it reasonable to question the reliability of other statistics it might cite?
Back to the AFL-CIO…
But the momentum for this bill is growing. The grassroots movement behind this legislation is bigger and more exciting than anyone believed last year. Working families across the country mounted a massive campaign to win passage of the bill. Sixteen governors and nearly 1,300 state and local elected officials expressed support for the legislation in all 50 states. Seven presidential candidates also back the bill.
While that’s all nice and good, the public knows that this thing stinks. The House Education and Labor Committee’s Republican’s note that the measure was universally panned.
During and after House consideration of the bill in March and leading into the Senate debate on the measure this month, public opinion polls, newspaper editorials, and television and radio commentaries underscored incredible opposition to the measure.
According to public opinion polling conducted by McLaughlin and Associates earlier this year, 89 percent of the American people believe the secret ballot – and not a card check – is the surest way to prevent intimidation from either employers or unions. And nearly 80 percent of those polled oppose the bill. Furthermore, major national newspapers, from the Washington Post to the Los Angeles Times, have editorialized against the undemocratic card check legislation.
This pig in lipstick was supposed to be the big payback to organized labor by Democrats for their help in last November’s victories. Fortunately for the working men and women of America they weren’t stuck with the bill…
