Posted on March 4th, 2009 by Tim Eavenson | No Comments »
Filed under: ., HR Issues, Labor Law, Politics | 
Word is spreading that the Employee Free Choice Act will be introduced in the House of Representatives on Monday, March 9. Release the rhetorical hounds!
Yesterday, the L.A. County Federation of Labor posted a call for union members to “phone bank … from the streets” on Monday in support of the bill’s introduction. EFCANow! corroborated, noting the early introduction was an effort to “preempt the continued lies” of corporate-sponsored lobbying groups.
Those stories were picked up by Shopfloor.com (“Preempt continued lies? How does that work exactly — time travel?“), and from there blew into the blogosphere like the partisan-tinged hot air sure that’s to follow it.
The bill will supposedly be introduced by Rep. George Miller (D-Cal 7th) and Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass), and the pro-EFCA groups are claiming the two sponsors have assured the 60 Senate votes necessary to pass the bill in its present form. I’ll wait for the results on that one.
This post is preliminary, and we’ll keep updating as we get info. Oh, and if and when EFCA ignites, we’ll blow up, too. Much, much coverage to come…
Hat Tip: Like many things that interest us, we first noticed the report on Workplace Prof Blog.
Plus, of all the brief commentary I just had to read, Jeffrey Hirsch gets the gold for “The economy may dull the fight somewhat, but I still expect this one to get bloody. At the least, I may have fewer people ask me if labor law is still relevant.”
Posted on February 24th, 2009 by Tim Eavenson | No Comments »
Filed under: ., Labor Law, Politics |
After weeks (and weeks) of delay, prompted by Republicans concerned about her pro-union past, the U.S. Senate voted 80-17 to confirm Rep. Hilda Solis as Secretary of Labor.
According to the New York Times, Republicans were insisting that Solis’s appointment be subject to a 60-vote preliminary round until today, when they finally agreed to let the daughter of union-member immigrants get her vote and go to work.
Held up at the Health, Education, Labor & Pensions (“HELP”) Committee, and then on the Senate floor, Ms. Solis’s appointment became an early lightning rod in the inevitable upcoming battle over the Employee Free Choice Act, a longsuffering bill that will either “restore the American dream” or destroy the rest of the American economy, depending on who you talk to. (Really, it will tip the scale of influence heavily in the unions’ favor during unionizing campaigns by replacing secret-ballot elections with yes-or-no cards union campaigners can pass out at any time.)
In a more common delay (at least for this administration), Ms. Solis also lost ground when her husband’s $6,400 tax lien payment was disclosed the day before her nomination was to be confirmed by the HELP committee.
This battle over her affiliation with pro-union groups conveniently ignores the fact that, as head of the Department of Labor, Ms. Solis will have a lot more to do with unemployment statistics than any union-related policies or practices, and practically no political influence over EFCA at all.
As with most politicians, I reserve judgment on Ms. Solis until she gets to work. She could be ineffectual, biding time while her boss sorts out the economy. She could also be a fresh voice on employment issues. She could also be the Democrat’s Elaine Chao (who was so pro-business American Rights at Work gave her her own catchy-named website). For now, let’s all agree that at least we have the chance to find out.
Posted on December 10th, 2008 by Tim Eavenson | No Comments »
Filed under: ., Labor Law, Politics, The Financial Crisis |
Those are the words of Andy Stern, president of the SEIU. He’s referring, of course, to President-elect Barack Obama – a man who owes much of his newly found title to Stern and his compatriots. In a Wall Street Journal profile over the weekend, Stern outlined his hopes for the new administration, and while the list is expected, the order is a little surprising.
“Massive investment” in a stimulus for the economy, the car industry, deficit-ridden states and infrastructure. Then universal health care, an issue on which the SEIU boss helped push the Democratic consensus leftward, and “tax cuts for the middle class” (and hikes for the upper bracketed). At the end of his list, Mr. Stern puts something particularly dear to unions: Quick adoption of the Employee Free Choice Act…
It is hard to imagine that EFCA is third among priorities for the President of the SEIU. But with the economy spiralling downward, passage of the controversial bill – which looked like a complete lock in an Obama administration 6 months ago – is now relegated behind two initiatives that may be more easily accomplished.
Stern is quick to point out that the time is ripe for massive healthcare reform. While they may differ on the details, “Mr. Obama takes office at ‘an unusual Washington moment’ when business, labor and the politicians ‘see common ground’ on the president’s headline initiatives, health care above all.
Stern also addresses the status of the Employee Free Choice Act – the longsuffering bill championed by organized labor as a balancing of power during elections and early negotiations. It is, apparently, the big issue among unions who see president-elect Obama’s theoretical shift to the center as a roadblock to its passage. But Stern is confident, and while the article makes it seem like union-boss puffery, there is good reason to believe him when he says EFCA should be done in the first hundred days:
“You should do it early and I think it should be part of the basic second-tier economic package when we’re dealing with health care, energy and other ways that over the long term begin to solve America’s long-term economic problems.” Just how it will pass — in a single package, or a budget, or who knows — is hard to predict amid all the economic uncertainty, he says.
Why the confidence? Regardless of his center leanings, there is truth to the notion that politicians cannot forget the people who got them where they are. And for Obama, a lot of those people have union cards. Organized labor, and Stern’s SEIU in particular, was an Obama Campaign cash machine, and they know what that money’s worth:
[L]abor put up some $450 million to get Democrats elected. The SEIU accounted for $85 million of that, making Mr. Stern’s union the single biggest contributor to either party in this election cycle. And just in case, the SEIU set aside an additional $10 million fund to get people unelected if need be. “We would like to make sure people appreciate that we take them at their word and when they don’t live up to their word there should be consequences,” he says.
Now, read that headline again.
