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Labor renews push for agenda

Posted by Foon Rhee, deputy national political editor January 8, 2009 12:07 PM

With a friendlier Congress in power and a new administration just over the horizon, labor groups renewed their push today for two items high on their wish list.

One would make it easier for women in particular to pursue equal pay for the same work.
House leaders joined the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights and Supreme Court plaintiff Lilly Ledbetter to call for a bill overturning the high court ruling to restore a rule allowing workers to challenge each paycheck as a separate act of discrimination that can be challenged.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she plans for a vote on the bill on Friday.

"It is of the highest priority to us," she said at the news conference. "It is not only about what this means to women and their families, it's very important because of what it means to the economic security of our country."

The other labor priority would make it easier for workers to organize into unions, by just signing check-off cards instead of voting in elections that unions say are often manipulated by companies.

The AFL-CIO released a new poll it commissioned that found that 73 percent support the Employee Free Choice Act. The survey of 1,007 adults was conducted by Hart Research Associates from Dec. 4 to 10.

"In today's economic squeeze, workers need the freedom to bargain their way into the middle class more than ever," AFL-CIO President John Sweeney said in a statement. "This new research confirms that the vast majority of Americans support workers' freedom to form unions to improve their lives and support the Employee Free Choice Act, which is key to making our economy work for everyone."

According to the poll, three-quarters of moderate/liberal Republicans, 87 percent of Democrats, and 69 percent of independents support the legislation, while only 36 percent of conservative Republicans support it.

After aggressively supporting President-elect Barack Obama with money and volunteers, unions have been worried that they won't get the full dividend because of the economic downturn and controversy over the auto industry bailout.

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Everything that glitters ain't gold! The EFCA sounds good because unions have put together the kind of rhetoric that makes the proposed legislation sound like something good for working people and for the economy. But the unions also know that few people will get all the facts before reaching a conclusion. If arbitration forces a company into an agreement it cannot afford who picks up the pieces if the company closes and employees have NO JOB? I'm all for people making more money, and I support measures that stimulate the economy. I just think that people should take a closer look at this legislation to ensure that we're not jumping out of the pan and into the fire. Unions, after all, are a business.

Posted by Jordan Strong January 12, 09 12:32 PM
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