EFCA: Still Not A Dead Issue
ShopFloor.org today highlights a Pittsburgh Tribune piece about the Pennsylvania AFL-CIO convention entitled: "BIg Dem majorities in Congress in doubt as AFL-CIO meets." NAM's take on the labor leaders' current strategy: "Take what you can get when you can get it." When it comes to the Employee Free Choice Act, and the rest of organized labor's agenda, NAM notes:
As Congress and the White House seek to appease their political allies in labor before the midterm elections, employers should remain vigilant. Labor’s policy agenda will not necessarily come in the form of legislation.
We agree that there are now several ways by which labor law reform is likely to be attempted in the near future, as we noted in our inaugural post Friday. But it seems that EFCA's proponents are not giving up on the legislation either. Elsewhere in the Trib piece, the author highlights how labor unions are channeling their frustration back into electoral politics for the 2010 cycle:
"We had a couple of conservative Democrats that were the same conservative Democrats that cause problems on health care," said United Steelworkers International President Leo Gerard. He singled out Sens. Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas, Bill Nelson of Nebraska and Mary Landrieu of Louisiana.
They and other conservative Democrats helped give the party its majority, but unions, frustrated with votes against labor priorities, are pulling support from them even if they're in tough re-election contests against Republicans, Gerard said.
Likewise, Politico, the Plumline, the Daily Caller, and MSNBC's Chuck Todd are all reporting that the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) is working to form a new political party in North Carolina to promote candidates more supportive of labor's agenda. From Politico:
About 100 canvassers have been trying to collect the requisite signatures for the past two weeks to gain ballot access for the new party, which would be called North Carolina First. SEIU spokeswoman Lori Lodes said their primary focus was to officially register the party, but noted that the union was beginning conversations with possible candidates who could run under the party’s banner.
- Cross-Posted at Labor Relations Today
