Monday, December 11, 2006

Card Check: Will Congress Do It?

Should deciding whether to form a union be dragged out for years? Congress will have the chance to answer that question when it takes up the issue of card check union campaigns.

Allowing workers to form a union through a card check process basically means when a majority of employees sign a union card they form a union. The current process now can get so bogged down in litigation that it can drag out for years and be settled in the courts or by public opinion instead of being decided by workers. Card check puts the choice to join a union back in the hands of workers where it belongs, and eases the path to the middle class for those who have the opportunity to unionize.

A story in today's Wall Street Journal is pessimistic that the Employee Free Choice Act can pass the Senate, and forecasts a certain veto by President Bush.

What do you think? Will Congress simplify the process and pass card check?

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4 comments:

Anonymous said...

yeah, in fantasy land. 51 democratic senators is a long, long way from 60, let alone 66.

Steve Perez said...

The counterargument would be that card check is popular enough that no Senator will want to publicly stand against it.

The favorite way to stop a bill from passing Congress is to stop it from coming up for a vote.

Anonymous said...

that would be the counter argument, but no one in America even knows what card check is.

sure, make them filibuster it, it'll make them look somewhat bad, but it aint gonna be law.

the republican party exists in the eyes of its creditors to stop exactly this bill, they'll scream bloody murder about defending the "right" to a "secret ballot election" and that'll be that.

and Bush has already hinted repeatedly he's veto it, so again, its a long, long way to 66

Anonymous said...

The EFCA will pass the House, but will be stalled in the Senate.

As a dues-paying member of the WFP, I am shocked that "strengthening unions" ranked so low for short-term 2007 WFP goals.

Universal health care and protecting health care in NYS can only be winnible by first carrying a union card. Then all public policy goals that we all share will be within our grasp.