Written by Margaret Moree on March 17, 2009 – 11:57 am
A bill has been introduced among much fanfare on both sides. The language in the bill is the same as the version that passed the House in 2007 but stalled in the Senate eight votes shy of the necessary 60. The bill has 40 sponsors in the Senate; 18 Democrat Senators are not cosponsors of the bill - primarily from the South and Midwest/West including CO; MT, WI; MO; ND; UT: VA; LA. I found it interesting that Senator Feinstein (CA) is not a cosponsor.
House Member Miller’s Committee page announcement on Card Check introduction: http://edlabor.house.gov/employee-free-choice-act-efca/index.shtml
Some media reports on the bill:
NPR March 11, which speaks to the cost impact this bill could have and refers to a downgrading of WalMart’s rating on a stock traders comments re: card check:http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=101677322
NPR March 10, on the release of the bill and the ‘staging of the battle’:http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=101669773http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/11/business/11labor.html?_r=1&ref=business
So Long, Secret Ballot
http://www.nypost.com/seven/03152009/postopinion/editorials/so_long__secret_ballots__159687.htm
Politico.Com is reporting that tomorrow starts the Card Check Battle: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0309/19786.html
It’s clear the battle will be waged in the Senate first and a handful of Democrats will be the focus of much intense lobbying.
Opinion column in today’s Buffalo News, specifically mentioning two of NY’s Western NY congressional delegation’s support for the bill and speaking to the troubling binding arbitration section of the bill:http://www.buffalonews.com/149/story/609049.html
An Opinion Column in an edition of last week’s Saratogian from a pro-Card Check author, specifically calls out the Saratoga Chamber for its opposition to the bill: http://www.saratogian.com/articles/2009/03/12/opinion/doc49b91a031a676438483356.txt
Article in Sunday’s Washington Post - laying out the climate within which the bill will be debated: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/14/AR2009031401823.html
And, from beyond our borders here in NYS, Utah, Other States Looking for Ways Around Card Check
As the effort to pass legislation to make it easier for unions to organize has started in Congress, Utah this month became the first state to get a measure on the ballot that aims to pre-empt the possible changes. Both chambers of the state’s Legislature passed a resolution that would let voters decide whether they wanted to amend the state constitution to require that employees have secret ballot elections in organizing.
The resolution awaits the signature of Republican Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr., who offered his support for the measure as the Legislature debated the issue. “This constitutional amendment would ensure that individuals will be constitutionally guaranteed the right to a secret-ballot for these types of important elections,” he said. The resolution will go before the voters in 2010.
Advocates for the measure argue it was needed because of the possibility that Congress will enact the card-check bill.
During debate, some questioned why the move was necessary, noting that Utah is a right-to-work state. Opponents also tried to cast doubt on whether the card-check bill, if enacted, would pre-empt the constitutional amendment.
Several other states are pushing similar efforts. The group Save Our Secret Ballot is working on initiatives to amend state constitutions so that union elections are required to be conducted by secret ballot.