Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) “suggested Thursday that Democrats might attempt to move ‘card-check’ legislation this year, perhaps during a lame-duck session,” The Hill reports.
Harkin, the chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, strongly disputed that the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA, or "card-check") was dead in the Senate.
"To those who think it’s dead, I say think again," Harkin said on the liberal Bill Press radio show.
"We’re still trying to maneuver," the Iowa Democrat added, explaining that if Democrats can’t move the bill in its entirety, they might try to pass key parts of the union-organizing legislation individually."
Lame-duck action?
"A lot of things can happen in a lame-duck session, too," he said in reference to EFCA.
A "lame-duck" session refers to the time Congress is in session after an election, during which members who might have retired or lost reelection still serve for roughly two months. Contentious legislation like EFCA is rarely moved during such a session, though the logic behind trying to move the labor bill during a lame-duck Congress is that lawmakers who might have opposed it for political purposes might be more inclined to support it.
(credit image – daylife/associated press)
Congress in Your Pocket
It has risen to the highest of stupidity that the card check idea is vilified beyond what companies can propagandize. It is such a sad conception from even those at working class, blue collar levels, the card check idea has been construed to imply that some external force will be driving your employer out of business. Companies do not have as much to lose as they think. It can actually be an asset to have that middle ground that can negotiate grievances.
When employees can first air their concerns to a person outside the company, a reasonably negotiated outcome can be achieved. When there is no outside counsel, there is just fear and intimidation. An employee is always fearful of “rocking the boat,” and will often overlook many problems until the situation grows to a horrendously agregious situation where there will be little grounds for negotiation.
Card check provisions in the law simply allow freedom to actively investigate collectively negotiated action. It is a system that is most in line with this country’s judicial system where all sides of an issue are addressed, negotiated and resolved according to a predetermined plan of action.
The rights of employees to seek to bargain with the employer as a collective unit is fair and just–it IS the American Way.