As we have been warning for some time here on the ‘Grok, the upcoming US Senate session will include a fight over what we have long refered to as the "deceptively named" Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) or, as it is more commonly known– "card check." Noted in several prior posts and discussed on our Saturday radio program, this legislation eliminates the secret ballot presently available to workers when it comes to the question of unionization. As you might suspect, Democrats are mostly in favor of its passage, given their long-time relationship with labor unions in general, and it has been up to the Republicans to stand in the way of passage of this onerous legislation.
While certainly overshadowed by the present fiscal chaos dominating the news cycle, this issue was one of the major topics of discussion in some of this year’s most closely contested Senate races, which, unfortunately, didn’t turn out all that well for those working to stop this onerous legislation. That means that in order to prevent EFCA from becoming the law of the land, Republicans must stick together to a man… and woman. Yeah right– it’s the REPUBLICANS we’re talking about here. Matt Lewis, writing at TownHall.com sets the stage:
The Republicans are going to have to filibuster to stop this monstrosity from passing the Senate…meaning we need to hold at least 41 votes.
One Republican, Arlen Specter (PA), has already crossed to the dark side, and the unions claim they are going to put pressure on Olympia Snowe (ME) and George Voinovich (OH). We should definitely be contacting those three to encourage them to oppose this act.
My first reaction was– "What, no Chuck Hagel?" But, aside from that, the other point that came to mind is that Olympia Snowe should look to her fellow Pine Tree State Senator on this issue, should she feel the need to cave in the face of some perceived local pressures. As noted in a pre-election post, Senator Susan Collins was spot-on regarding this issue. And we all know that she was one of the few so-called "vulnerable" Republicans that actually won. During a debate against her Democratic challenger she literally knocked it out of the park when questioned on "card check":
I am strongly opposed to taking away the guarantee of a secret ballot when workers are deciding whether or not to organize.
She then provided some details that clearly demonstrated her grasp of what is at stake:
There is a fundamental difference between Tom [Democratic challenger] and me on this issue. And don’t buy into the fact that some of the supporters of this bill will tell you that it’s quote "just another option." It’s not "just another option." It does away with the guarantee of a federally supervised secret ballot when workers are deciding whether or not they want to be represented by a union.
Now I support the right of people to join unions and collectively bargain, but the decision on whether to unionize and which union should represent them should be done by secret ballot to protect the employees from intimidation by either side.
What this bill does is it says that if the union gets 51 percent of the workers to sign a card, the union’s in. Think of the possibilities for coersion and intimidation if that’s the way the decision is made. We have to have a secret ballot…
Come on, Olympia… STAY STRONG ON THIS! Senator Collins is proof positive right in your own backyard that this is a winning issue for those on the right side.
Here is the contact info, should you wish to encourage Senator Snowe to stand firm against EFCA: U.S. Senator Olympia J. Snowe · United States Senate · Washington, DC 20510; Phone: (202) 224-5344 · Toll Free in Maine: (800) 432-1599 · Fax: (202) 224-1946. You can email her here.