Update on Card Check

On July 16th the New York Times reported on a potential compromise on the “so-called†Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA). The real story behind the story is that one unnamed senator among six that are working on a compromise leaked to the Times that they will likely drop the card-check portion of the EFCA bill with the blessing of some union leaders. The article also explains some of the other areas that the senators may include in their compromise, but that no deal has been struck with the undecided senators who control the outcome of this debate. The barrier continues to be 60 senators voting to end cloture and move the EFCA bill. As the story reports, the Democrats have 60 senators in their caucus, but two are ill (Kennedy-Mass., and Byrd-W.Va.) and eight senators are officially undecided on EFCA (Lincoln-Ark., Pryor-Ark., Bennet-Colo., Landrieu-La., Hagan-N.C., Nelson-Neb., Specter-Pa. and Warner-Va.). The cloture vote is the key vote in this debate. AGC has said from the start that compromise is not an option. Dropping the card check portion of the bill does not change our opposition to the binding government mandated arbitration provision and the increased penalties on only businesses for unfair labor practices. Some of the ideas being mentioned in any alleged compromise also concern AGC, including using post-cards instead of secret ballot elections, so-called “quickie†elections, and increasing access to the workplace by union organizers. Even a genuine and well-intended proposal for a compromise could become a “Trojan horse†that EFCAâ€^TMs proponents would simply use to sneak EFCA past a cloture vote in the Senate. Unless and until EFCAâ€^TMs proponents completely and irreversibly abandon that legislation, the risk of a compromise becoming a “Trojan horse†for EFCA will remain too great for this industry to entertain any discussion of compromise. This serves as a reminder that all Members of Congress, especially senators, need to be contacted by AGC members. Top target states are: Arkansas, Colorado, Louisiana, Nebraska, North Carolina, and Virginia. Please send letters in opposition to EFCA by using the AGC Legislative Action Center.