Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) confirmed he will oppose the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA, a.k.a. "card check") during a speech Tuesday afternoon on the Senate floor.
"My vote on this bill was very difficult for many reasons," Specter said, calling the right to a secret ballot "the cornerstone for how contests are decided in a Democratic society."
Acknowledging the decisive nature of his vote for the bill's prospects, Specter said he would reconsider his vote when the economy improves.
"Knowing that I will not support cloture on this bill, Senators may choose to move on" to change the controversial provisions in the bill, Specter said.
Specter also said he had not taken his political future into consideration when determining his vote.
"I have not traded my vote in the past and I will not do so now," he said.
According to two as-yet unconfirmed reports, centrist Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) will oppose the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA, a.k.a "card check"), as well as the procedural motion to bring it to a vote in the Senate.
Washington Independent's David Weigel suggested in a tweet Tuesday afternoon that Specter will oppose cloture on EFCA, while the Drudge-esque GrassrootsPA.com reported, citing "multiple sources," that Specter will oppose cloture and the passage of the bill itself.
Specter is expected to make a statement on the Senate floor about his position sometime this afternoon.
Unions have been courting the centrist Republican, promising to fully back his tough reelection bid in 2010 in exchange for his support of the card check legislation. The bill is teetering on the brink of a filibuster-proof majority, but will need the support of all Democrats and some centrist Republicans to secure passage.
Specter's position has also been a key issue in his likely primary race against Club for Growth Chairman Pat Toomey.
The Obama administration welcomed a number of small business owners and small business groups to the White House Monday -- including two organizations that are on the record as vehemently opposing the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA).
Among the dozens of small businessmen welcomed to the White House were representatives from the National Small Business Association (NSBA) and National Restaurant Association (NRA), both of which are on the record as opposing EFCA, a prized piece of legislation by organized labor.
John Gay and Elizabeth Johnson appeared Monday on behalf of the NRA, while Kyle Kempf of NSBA and Dan Danner from the National Federation of Independent Business were invited.
Vice President Joe Biden seemed to indicate administration backing for the legislation during an AFL-CIO meeting in Florida earlier this month. During a speech in Miami, Biden said the way to "reinstitute that basic bargain" would be the Employee Free Choice Act.
"The card check system makes it easier and less expensive for unions to target and organize small businesses of any size, using any means available
Republican Policy Committee Chairman John Ensign is taking his opposition to the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) to a new level, promising not to rest until the legislation is defeated.
National labor groups filed a complaint Thursday with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) against opponents of a heavily-backed labor bill.
The AFL-CIO and the labor coalition Change To Win filed the complaint against the Center for Union Facts and the Marcus Foundation under allegations that they violated their charitable tax status by engaging in political activity by fundraising for Republican Senate candidates this past election.
The unions cited a conference call hosted by the two 501(c)(3) organizations for investors two weeks before the 2008 election. On the call, first reported by the Huffington Post, Rick Berman, head of the Center for Union Facts, and Bernie Marcus, chairman of the Marcus Foundation and past Home Depot chairman, pleaded with corporate executives to contribute to Republicans
Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) called the United Auto Workers (UAW) union "classless" for having sent him a signed valentine card last week condemning Corker, who has sought concessions from the union in exchange for bailing out Chrysler and General Motors (GM).
"I think delivering 4,200 incredibly tacky Valentines to our office was a classless thing to do," Corker said at a town hall meeting Wednesday.
UAW members sent Corker a giant valentine (pictured below) last Thursday, indicative of the persistent hard feelings since the first-term Republican Senator took the lead in helping to negotiate a bailout for troubled automakers.
A new organization representing businesses has launched a new ad campaign seeking to pressure President Obama into opposing a piece of legislation favored by labor unions.
The Workforce Fairness Institute, which describes itself as "funded by and advocates on behalf of business owners who enjoy good working relationships with their employees," launched a minute-and-a-half-long ad said the president had to choose between focusing on larger priorities or helping pass the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), a piece of legislation giving unions greater leeway in the workplace.
Echoing rhetoric employed by congressional Republicans, the ad heaps praise on Obama while trying to drive a wedge between the Democratic president and congressional Democrats.
The ad praises Obama's policy priorities, but, a narrator says, "They aren't the priorities of congressional leaders and the Big Labor bosses that spent millions to elect him."
The ad alleges that EFCA would remove the secret ballot in union organizing elections, and says federal bureaucrats would "force" contracts on workers and small businesses.
In congratulating him on his inauguration Tuesday, one of the key labor coalitions behind President Barack Obama's victorious campaign last year has promised to work with him on its number one legislative priority: the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA).
"Our seven unions and six million members will work with the Obama-Biden administration and new Congress to establish a bold agenda to fix our national health care system, invest in green projects and technologies to help create millions of new, good green jobs, and put working families back on the path of prosperity by passing the Employee Free Choice Act," said Anna Burger, chair of Change to Win.
EFCA, often called card-check, should help workers organize into unions much more easily by letting them sign authorization cards instead of holding secret ballot elections to form unions. Business associations have targeted the bill and are lobbying furiously against it. Union officials contend the legislation is necessary because too often employers have intimidated workers from forming unions.
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