Scoopin' the NY Times: Reports of the death of union cardcheck still premature

Reports of the death of union cardcheck still premature
by John Wojcik
People's Weekly World

A report in the New York Times today that says senators have “dropped” the majority sign-up provision of the Employee Free Choice Act is not accurate.

A spokesperson for Sen. Tom Harkin, the Iowa Democrat who is shepherding the bill through the Senate, said that “no particular provisions of the bill have been agreed to and cannot be agreed to until there is an entire bill that can be agreed to.”

“As we have said from day one, majority signup is the best way for workers to have the right to choose a voice at their workplace,” declared Andy Stern, president of the Service Employees International Union, this morning. He added, referring directly to the Times article, “The Employee Free Choice Act is going through the usual legislative process, and we expect a vote on a majority signup provision in the final bill or by amendment in both houses of Congress.”

Majority signup has been the way workers designate a union as their representative since the Wagner Act was passed during the Great Depression. Taft-Hartley amended that after World War II to allow companies the option of requiring a “secret ballot” election if workers indicate, by signing cards, that they want to be represented by a union.

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White House: Employee Free Choice a Priority

From the AFL-CIO Blog:

In yesterday’s White House press briefing, a reporter raised the question of whether President Barack Obama and the administration continued to support the Employee Free Choice Act.

Here’s what White House press secretary Robert Gibbs had to say:

I think you heard the President talk about his support for it throughout the campaign, and it’s obviously one of many things that we will work on throughout our time here.

I believe it is, again, something the President campaigned on and we’d like to see happen.

This is no surprise—Barack Obama and his administration have reiterated several times over their continued support for Employee Free Choice and the need to restore workers’ freedom to bargain as a critical part of economic recovery.

Despite an ongoing, multimillion-dollar corporate disinformation campaign and the ferocious opposition by the enablers of CEOs in the Senate, the Employee Free Choice Act continues to have the strong support in the White House and in both houses of Congress, and that’s a testament to the determination and grassroots mobilization of millions of union members and a broad coalition of allies who know that it’s what our economy needs.

Activists Take EFCA Fight Home

From AFL-CIO Now Blog:

Members of the U.S. Senate and House are returning home this weekend for the Memorial Day recess, and when they get there, union members and our allies will be ready. Over the coming week, thousands will mobilize to ask their members of Congress to quickly pass the Employee Free Choice Act and make the economy work for everyone again.

More than 200 recess events will take place across the country in key states like Alaska, Louisiana, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Maine, Arkansas and Wisconsin. Union members and a broad coalition of allies will hold a range of events in support of the freedom to form unions and bargain, from 24-hour candlelight vigils to town hall meetings demonstrating the strong grassroots momentum for the Employee Free Choice Act.

Union members and supporters of workers’ freedom to form unions and bargain also will contact senators directly through letters and phone calls. Working families are expected to deliver 40,000 phone calls and 25,000 hand-written letters to their senators asking them to support the Employee Free Choice Act.

AFL-CIO President John Sweeney says the coming week will mark an unprecedented level of activity and enthusiasm:

Working people across the country are mobilizing as never before for the Memorial Day recess because we believe that Congress should and will pass labor law reform this summer. From 24 hour candlelight vigils to visits at district offices, working people are stepping up because it’s time to create an economy that works for everyone.

Pennsylvanians demand Specter's support for EFCA

In Pa., even Republicans want Specter to support Employee Free Choice Act

by John Wojcik
People's Weekly World Newspaper
05/08/09 11:21

The latest Quinnipiac Poll in Pennsylvania helps explain what may be Sen. Arlen Specter’s second switch on the Employee Free Choice Act.

According to the poll, twice as many Republicans want Specter to support the worker rights measure than want him to oppose it.

Twenty-six percent of Republicans say Specter’s opposition to the worker rights bill makes them less likely to back him; only 13 percent say it makes them more likely to vote for him.

The numbers for Republicans vary little from the numbers for Democrats, Republicans and independents, taken as a whole. Twenty-three percent of Pennsylvania voters overall say Specter’s opposition to the Employee Free Choice Act makes them less likely to back him; 14 percent say it makes them more likely to support him.

Officials at the United Food and Commercial Workers and at the AFL-CIO told the World they attributed the poll’s findings to the enormous lobbying effort and campaign for employee free choice that unions have mounted in Pennsylvania and elsewhere. They also pointed out that many Republicans in the state belong to labor unions and that the membership of the unions has become well informed on the issue.

Pennsylvania AFL-CIO officials have said they told Specter that he would not get their support unless he backed the Employee Free Choice Act.

Read the whole story here...