Union leader: 'Card check' will pass in 2010

Congress will move to pass controversial "card check" legislation this year, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka predicted Sunday.

Trumka said that lawmakers would pass the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) as well as healthcare reform this year, despite Republicans having picked up enough votes in the Senate to sustain a filibuster.

"I think we'll get health care done and I think we'll get labor law reform done before the year's up," Trumka said during an appearance on CNN.

EFCA has been a top priority for labor groups during this Congress, during which Democrats' control of the House and Senate seems to be at its apex. 

But business groups and congressional Republicans have mounted a strong opposition to the bill, which they say would unfairly bias labor organizing votes in favor of unions.

That opposition, combined with some centrist Democrats' unwillingness to sign onto supporting the bill, had forced the legislation to the backburners for lawmakers in recent months.

"The Employee Free Choice Act, John, is not just good for unions; it's good for the economy because it will bring more money into people's pockets across the board, so that everybody can spend a little more and create an economy that really does work for everybody," Trumka said. "And that's where we're going to go to."

Senate Democrats had reportedly been working on crafting a compromise version of the "card check" bill in order to get 60 votes in the upper chamber. But with Republicans' 41-vote bloc and a competitive election cycle for Democrats expected this fall, it's not clear what path EFCA faces going forward.

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