| |
August 2007 - "Card Check” union organizing legislation (H.R. 800/S. 1041) was effectively defeated when the Senate successfully turned back the legislation in June. The Senate vote was 51 in favor, 48 opposed (60 votes would have been needed to prevent a filibuster and advance the bill). The Senate vote likely means the legislation will not be brought up again in the current Congress. This bill passed the full House of Representatives in early March.
The bill seeks to overturn 70+ years of American labor law by forcing companies to recognize a union if a majority of the company’s workers signs cards indicating their desire to become unionized. The current process, which requires a secret ballot election in order to install a union, would be eliminated by this proposal, thus opening employees up to a level of union intimidation unprecedented in the modern era.
AMT is a member of the Coalition for a Democratic Workplace (CDW), which functions as the primary voice of the employer community and has rallied opposition to the bill.
With an eye toward electing additional union-friendly Senators and a President who will sign the legislation, senior labor union officials have trained their sights on the next Congress and on next fall’s Presidential elections.
Among the sitting Senators currently running for President, Senators Clinton (D-NY), Obama (D-IL) and Dodd (D-CT) voted in favor of the legislation, while Senator McCain (R-AZ) voted against it.
Union leaders have stated that, if the bill were to be enacted, they believe it would bring an additional 60 million American jobs into the unionized fold.
|
|
