Legislative Bulletin - July 15, 2009

New Push for Card Check in U.S. Senate

Minnesota Democrat Al Franken has officially been seated in the United States Senate and proponents of the Employee Free Choice Act/Card Check bill (HR 1409 and S 560) have begun another push for passage of the legislation. Senator Franken has already stated that he is a supporter of the card check bill. Also, following his swearing-in on July 7, there are now 58 Democrats in the Senate. Added together with the two Senate Independents that usually vote with the Democrats on party-line issues, the 60 votes held by the Democrats/Independents are enough to invoke cloture, end debate and force a Senate Floor vote on the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA). Once debate is ended only 51 votes or a simple majority of Senators voting would be necessary to approve the legislation. However, in order to have a 60 vote “supermajority,” every Democrat and Independent would have to be unified in their support for a measure.

Based on meetings that TRALA has had with several Senators from both parties, the Democratic majority in the Senate is still not unified in support of the EFCA. However, there are limited and revised versions of the EFCA being proposed that are identified as “compromises” by Senate supporters. The latest efforts by EFCA proponents focus on one particular provision of the original bill – binding interest arbitration. Under the binding interest arbitration provision of EFCA, federal government arbitrators would decide the terms of a labor contract if, after 120 days, the union and employer have not been able to come to an agreement on a first contract. Final decisions on employee pay, benefits, and work rules would be made by these government arbitrators and the rulings would be binding.

TRALA, along with its 580 allies in the Coalition for a Democratic Workplace (CDW), has sent a letter to every Senate office opposing the binding interest arbitration “compromise.” To see a copy of the letter, please click here. TRALA will be participating in a lobbying strategy meeting of the CDW on Friday, July 17 and will continue to keep the membership updated on its efforts to defeat the Employee Free Choice Act as well as “compromise” versions of this legislation that are aimed at allowing labor unions to circumvent current law and fairness regarding worker representation and negotiations.

If you have not already done so, please join your industry colleagues and visit TRALA's grassroots mobilization section of our website and use our sample letters to contact your Senators and Representatives.