A leading labor group is launched a series of online advertisements Friday, seeking to thank Sen. Arlen Specter (D-Pa.) for tentatively backing "card check" legislation -- and hold him to that pledge.
American Rights at Work, a nonpartisan group backed by organized labor, set off an advertising campaign on Pennsylvania and national news websites building on Specter's pledge at a conference of liberal bloggers earlier this month that he would back cloture for a modified version of the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA).
"I expect the cloture vote to occur on a modified version of the Employee's Free Choice legislation," Specter told the bloggers. "And I will support that cloture vote."
That position marked a reversal of Specter's previous stance, before he switched parties to seek reelection as a Democrat, when he pledged to not only oppose EFCA, but also any vote to end debate and bring it up for a final vote.
The American Rights at Work ad says Specter "listened" to that group in crafting his stance on the card check bill, a union organizing bill strongly supported by organized labor, and tells viewers to "thank Senator Specter and make sure he keeps listening."
The ad will run on national sites like the New York Times, Washington Post, and MSNBC websites, as well as several prominent political sites in Pennsylvania: Philly.com, PoliticsPA.com, KeystonePolitics.com, GrassrootsPA.com, and YoungPhillyPolitics.com.
The Senate has too many priorities on its agenda to handle "card check" legislation anytime soon, Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said yesterday.
Reid told a lunch crowd at the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday that the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) would have to wait for the meanwhile.
The Senate is expected to focus intently on healthcare upon returning to Washington in September, with an intense climate change bill debate expected to follow before the end of the year.
AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Richard Trumka acknowledged earlier this week that EFCA would have to wait until after healthcare reform is finished, but it's unclear how long labor groups would be willing to wait for the Senate to take action on their top legislative priority.
"We WILL PASS EMPLOYEE FREE CHOICE ACT legislation, we will not allow our 'friends' to pass on this essential part of an economic recovery solution!" he said.
Sen. Evan Bayh (D-Ind.) will evaluate "card check" legislation when a final bill emerges, his office said Thursday.
A previous sponsor of the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), Bayh's spokesman told the Howey Political Report that the Indiana centrist would withhold judgment on the latest iteration of the bill.
"Sen. Bayh will evaluate it when there is something to analyze," spokesman Brian Weiss told the newsletter. "He did not co-sponsor EFCA this year because, although he supports meaningful labor law reform, he felt changes needed to be made.
Centrist Blue Dog Democrats are "making a big mistake" by not backing President Obama's healthcare reforms, Teamsters President James P. Hoffa threatened Wednesday.
"They're a whole new phenomenon," Hoffa said of the centrist Democrats who have been reluctant to back a healthcare bill containing certain taxes and a public (or "government-run") option for consumers.
Hoffa's words come after the likely incoming president of the AFL-CIO, Richard Trumka, told the Huffington Post that his union may sit out campaigns in which lawmakers broke from the organization.
Hoffa said that the Blue Dogs certainly weren't aiding Obama's efforts to pass health reform.
"The president needs every Democratic vote, whether it's in the House or the Senate," he said. "The fact that they're basically chopping up the bill certainly doesn't help him."
The son of the legendary union leader Jimmy Hoffa also said that the bruising healthcare battle might have taught the president a lesson or two.
"I think he's really learning a lesson about how divided this town is," he said. "I think he came here he had the idea that he could charm everybody."
A leading group opposed to "card check" legislation launched a blitz against Sen. Arlen Specter (D-Pa.) Tuesday, demanding he "keep his word" after pivoting last week to say he'd support a "modified" version of the bill.
The Workforce Fairness Institute (WFI) launched a web video and petition this morning seeking to hold Specter to his previous pledge to oppose cloture on the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), on which the Pennsylvania senator seemingly reneged last week.
"We need your help to let Senator Specter know he has to keep his word and stand up for what
Some form of the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) might have received a key boost Friday from Sen. Arlen Specter (D-Pa.), saying he would support cloture for the controversial labor bill.
In a reversal of his previous position, Specter told a panel discussion at the "Netroots Nation" liberal bloggers' convention that he would support a procedural vote to bypass a filibuster for a modified version of the "card check" legislation.
"I expect the cloture vote to occur on a modified version of the Employee's Free Choice legislation," Specter told the bloggers. "And I will support that cloture vote."
Specter, a key centrist senator whose vote is critical to the success of EFCA, announced in late March that he would oppose the bill in its current form, as well as cloture for the legislation.
The statement, while a boon for labor organizing legislation, is far from definitive to the extent that it is unclear what a "modified" version of EFCA would resemble.
After switching parties to pursue reelection as a Democrat, Specter had maintained that his position on "card check" would remain consistent.
But the veteran senator has been under pressure from a primary challenge by Rep. Joe Sestak (D-Pa.) in which polls have found Specter flagging.
Business interests had seen EFCA's prospects wane in recent months, as a variety of centrist Democrats have expressed skepticism about some of the bill's key components.
And while Specter did not tip his hand as to his final vote on the bill overall, his opposition to a filibuster would allow for the bill's passage with a lower, 50-vote threshold.
"Senator Specter owes Pennsylvanians an explanation on where he stands on the [EFCA]." said Katie Packer, executive director of the Workforce Fairness Institute.
A compromise on "card check" legislation is no better than the original proposals in the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), one key group opposed to "card check" legislation will emphasize over the August recess.
The Workforce Fairness Institute (WFI) will look to go on the offensive in the coming month, launching messaging seeking to block any compromise on EFCA.
"As we head into the August recess, pro-EFCA Senators are no closer to securing passage of the job-killing legislation than they were before news reports of a so-called 'compromise,'" the group's August recess memo says.
"While there are not enough votes to pass EFCA or 'compromise' legislation that includes mandatory, binding arbitration, we can not lose sight of the strategic goal of taking the messaging fight to the union bosses over the course of the Congressional break," the memo reads.
For their part, organized labor groups are planning a recess push as well.
SEIU is touting the 400 events they are holding across the country over the next month.
"Our message this recess is clear," the group's memo says. "There are consequences to not changing the status quo: consequences for families, consequences for our economy and consequences for members of Congress."
For WFI, there seems to be little room for compromise.
"The only way for the conversation to move forward is to take [EFCA] completely off the table, meaning both the elimination of the secret ballot and mandatory, binding arbitration are no longer part of the discussion in any form," the group's memo says.
An organized labor opponent will run television ads against Virginia's two Democratic senators, seeking to pressure them into opposing controversial "card check" legislation.
The National Right to Work Committee (NRWC) announced Monday it would begin running ads against Sens. Mark Warner and Jim Webb on the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA).
While Webb is a previous supporter of the legislation, he hasn't sponsored the bill this term. Warner, a first-term senator, has also declined to sponsor the bill as of yet.
"The vote tally on this bill will likely come down to the wire, so Senator Webb
Weeks after claiming the head of the Roman Catholic Church as a supporter of "card check," one labor group is claiming the Episcopal Church as a backer of the union organizing legislation.
"The Episcopal Church has a long record of support for the freedom of workers to form unions and opposition to abusive tactics that prevent them from exercising their right to bargain," the AFL-CIO wrote on its blog. "By passing this resolution, the Episcopal Church joins a coalition of faith groups representing a broad variety of religious traditions in support of the Employee Free Choice Act."
As the "card check" portion of the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) remains in limbo, one internal poll by an anti-EFCA group claims the bill's other key provision is deeply unpopular.
60 percent of voters nationwide oppose the binding arbitration portion of EFCA -- including 43 percent of the country that strongly opposes it, according to internal polling done by one of the groups working against EFCA.
The arbitration provision would refer an employer and union to a federal mediator after 90 days of collective bargaining and invoke arbitration after 30 additional days, the decision from which would be binding for two years. Both parties could agree to delay those deadlines.
The fate of EFCA, a priority for organized labor groups, has been seen as in flux after varying reports emerged in recent days about the fate of the controversial "card check" provision. The New York Times had reported that the provision had been removed as part of a compromise, though some labor officials have walked back on those rumors.
Of note, the anti-EFCA polling alleges that 63 percent of union households oppose the binding arbitration provision, which makes up the other key component of the bill.
More broadly, the polling says that 76 percent of Americans believe say "giving government arbitrators the right to set the wages and benefits for workers is a bad idea."
Most Viewed RSS Feed »
