This shouldn’t come as any surprise at this point, but Democrats have decided to drop card check from the Employee Free Choice Act. It never had unanimous support within the Democratic caucus and Republicans were sure to filibuster it, so it had no chance of passing.
But without card check, what’s left? Nathan Newman says “quite a lot”:
Let’s rename the bill, the “Prevention of Illegal Firings Act” (PIFA) and it’s still important labor law reform….Majority signup provisions would be dropped, but elections would be held within five days, employees could not be forced into mandatory meetings, and unions could campaign on company property during the election period.
….This is worlds away from the present situation where elections take well over a month at minimum and often far longer, while mandatory meetings and firings destroy union support and any penalties come in months and even years later for employer actions — and the costs to the employer from those penalties are so minimal that they act as no deterrence.
If anyone wants a frame for this new labor law, it’s simple — cracking down on illegal corporate behavior during union elections. The bill becomes a “tough on crime” bill, pure and simple. It’s not everything labor wants and it’s a dramatic compromise to placate conservative Democrats, but it would be a major improvement for workers rights if it passed in this form.
Centrist Dems have gotten what they wanted. So will they support the bill now? Stay tuned.
