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Labor Bill Proposes Vote Changes

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The Washington Post

Published: October 20, 2008

Organized labor and business groups are facing off in an intense battle over legislation that would make it easier to organize unions, as labor seeks to bolster its dwindling ranks and propel its agenda for working Americans.

The Employee Free Choice Act - which would require employers to recognize unions once a majority of workers sign cards of support, or "card check" - would be perhaps the most significant change in federal labor law in six decades.

THE SUPPORTERS

•Underlying the union push is the decline in inflation-adjusted wages that has gripped most working Americans during the past eight years, even as a shrinking percentage of workers receive benefits such as paid sick leave, paid vacation and retirement coverage.

•Aside from the card-check proposal, organized labor leaders say they plan to soon pursue measures that would result in expanded paid leave and health-care benefits, which small-business advocates say could cripple some struggling firms.

•The union proposal is strongly endorsed by Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama and a bevy of congressional Democrats, who see it as a way to increase the clout of workers who have been losing economic ground over the past three decades.

THE OPPOSITION

•Besides saying it would be a boon to unions, opponents charge that the "card-check" system is fundamentally undemocratic.

•Opponents say that if workers do not have access to a private ballot, they easily can be coerced into supporting union organizing efforts.

•The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has raised $30 million to derail the proposal. The proposal is also opposed by Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain and a long roster of congressional Republicans.

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