Unions Targeting GOPers, Including Rep. Shadegg, On EFCA

Members of the powerful Service Employees International Union are working members of Congress, including House Republicans, in an effort to drum up support for the Employee Free Choice Act.

A spokesman for Rep. John Shadegg, a conservative from Arizona, confirmed that on Tuesday members of the Congressman's legislative staff held conversations with union officials on the labor-legislative priority. He added that the SEIU and others likely "dropped by a lot of offices" to talk about EFCA.

Labor officials have by and large shied away from publicizing which Republicans they are targeting in the EFCA debate, believing that the spotlight would encourage business groups to respond with resources of their own. In that context, it is noteworthy that Shadegg - while likely not persuadable - is being courted by the unions.

That said, an official working for EFCA's passage said he and others were casting a wide net, "meeting with Republicans in both chambers to build greater support." Already, the source added, they had made marginal gains among Republicans in the House of Representatives. In the Senate, union forces might be gaining some traction as well. As noted by Greg Sargent at The Plumb Line, Alaska Republican Lisa Murkowski recently expressed a willingness to compromise on the bill while speaking in the Alaska State Legislature several weeks ago.

Comments

[katekid]

EFCA is needed ASAP to level the playing field.
It is simply good business for any worker to have his terms of employment in writing.
Union contracts created the middle class.
Their strength has raised the standard of living for all, including those workers who do not enjoy the dignity of collective bargaining.
It will always be better to bargain, than beg

[sueinmn]

Presently most people are employees "at will". You can be terminated with no reason given. This is the "right to work" law. Even if we are not looking at better wages presently because of the economy, is it not time to have some job security, some say about your life? Having a process to air your grievances with out fear of termination. Having a method to discuss issues with your employer. Having laid out set of work polycies that all must live by. Knowing you will be considered as an equal to the next employee. Possibly knowing your length of service does provide a bit more security than the new hiree. It's all about negotiating a rock solid language and if the employer is successful, you shall be too. How can we continue down a road of unknown conditions, constantly at the mercy of the whim of some employers. To me, contract language is so much more impotant than the wage. Knowing the employer has a set of rules to honor and live by makes life less stressful. People this is good for us. Iv'e been a member of four different unions throughout my life and and I would never ever want to lose that job security and work non union again.

[katekid]

Agreed, but I call it "right to work for less".

[mikekopac]

new readers...­...

ANN and LEMMY and CONSERVATISM cannot answer our answers to their comments..­.just follow the threads below

[Lemmy]

My answers to your comments are there.

[spinns17]

there is a new tactic out there now.they try and make union workers look bad by making bad decisions , then blame it on the workers.th­is is do or die for all american workers people .not just union workers.

[FightingTheRight]

One thing seems clear, if this was bad for workers, the corporations and Republicans wouldn't be fighting so hard against it,

[chonus]

Ed Zachery.

[blaqntelligence]

I second that:)

[slarabee]

I am very happy to see so many people getting informed about EFCA and fighting back against the anti-union disinformation. The issue has been a heated one here on the Huff Post for some time now. Thanks for all the input from people who care enough about American workers and their families to fight back with the truth. : )

[SenGovLuvr]

This is how the private sector works: If unionized,­,,,,,,,,,, low-skilled workers in low income jobs will pay dues and have the ability to strike for ?? whatever. The plant or store or restaurant, etc. will either negotiate and settle or they will close. Eventually the wages and benefits will be too much to bear and they will be asked for concessions. Disregard for city/count­y/state/fe­deral workers. They will just raise taxes.
Unionizing will not guarantee auto-worker wages and lifetime benefits for all.

[pnwtribe]

From the land of Boeing, would you get on an airplane assembled by low-skilled workers or union employees?

[patricksmom]

Of course it won't get auto-worker wages for all. That isn't what anyone promised. Argue with legitimate means or go back to Rush.

[SenGovLuvr]

Legitimate means? This exact scenario has happened to many, many of my friends in the rust belt where I live. The strike or threat is the big hammer from labor.
And to the poster below, I am talking about low-skilled workers, only.
Unions will work in alot of high skilled trades where there is not an abundant supply of competitors, or a kind of monopoly in that particular industry.

[AnnfromCA]

Yes, just ask Detroit, "How's that working for ya?"

[mikekopac]

why not ask unionized workers at Japanese owned plants in the USA while you are at it

or school teachers, who, through a union, get the pay that every right wing idealoge claims they deserve BUT DOES nothing to see it come to pass

UNIONS where the pedal hits the metal

[ljc]

We all need to keep a close eye on the media with this. I'll bet most of them are members of the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, a Union which provides healthcare benefits. If they spew crap against EFCA they will be hypocrites. Especially keep an eye on Hannity, he said on his radio show that he is a member of AFTRA. With his Fox news healthcare and AFTRA, he has 100% coverage.

[joebloe]

Either 50%+1 sign a card indicating they would like to form a union OR 30% can sign a card which would request a secret ballot election.

So it is actually harder to get the number of people to automatically form a union than to get a secret ballot election.

Secret ballot elections for unions are not gone with this bill.

[wesx]

I am a independent business owner myself but i have a freind that works for a major manufacturing firm and they have plants in 6 different parts of the USA. Out of the 6 plant s 2 of them are union and have tried hard to keep all of them operating in these tough times. But they do have plans to close down the union plants permanatly in order to keep the employees of the non union plants employed and expand these plants as needed. Not that i am for this just telling you how the real world is working.

[Fabienne]

The "real" world works the way the people in it allow it to work. Time to render powerless the corporations that would destroy unions so they can continue to exploit their workers. Unions have their problems (as do all organizations that have hierarchies; power seems to corrupt), but without them, we would most likely still have child labor, no benefits (though we are fast moving in this direction) and no minimum wage (not that the minimum wage we have is adequate).

[wesx]

In all fairness to the manufacturer i will also need to tell that in all the 6 plants the payscale is about the same and of course the safety standards are the same he said the biggest difference is just the little things. One of the things he said about the union plants is the sick days average per year per person is 15 and the non union sick days per person is 3.5 days. Also the number of payed off days or holidays in the union plants is much more. Dont kill the messanger not my dill

[BUTCHER111]

It also sounds like union busting. A Threat to others, unionize and be fired!

[patricksmom]

Well in the real new world some of these approaches might not be legal.

[artisthawk]

Ok but closing is not because of the unions. Closing comes from the top down. With an unfair playing field and a host of laissez faire ,global corporations who have no loyalty to America, and the wider space between superrich and lower classes. Blaming unions is a talking point, not a fact.

[Steambomb]

Seems like the United States Chamber of Commerce shouldn't be allow to carry that name when they are clearly lobbying against the interests of the broader population in favor of corporate interests. The should be stripped up the United States part of their name because they are clearly not representing the country as a whole.

[TovSquirrel]

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Fighting for your business.

http://www.uschamber.com/default

[essbird]

EFCA opponents: See www.wikipedia.org, search "card check'" and get your history right. It's all nicely footnoted. Or get it someplace else, but not at a partisan place like the US Chamber or Heritage Foundation.

"Majority sign-up is not new. Since the National Labor Relations Act was passed, it has been legal for workers to form a union when a majority of employees in a bargaining unit sign cards indicating their intent to bargain collectively with the employer. According to a recent law review article, the National Labor Relations Board in its early days "certified on the record when there had been an agreement with the employer for card-check­." It adds that "in the final year before the Taft-Hartley Act was passed [in 1947], 646 representation petitions were informally resolved through the card-check procedure.­"[3]

There's more, about how the Supreme Court has found card check to be constitutional several times, and about what's in the new bill. All factual, unlike most of the right-wing bloviations on this blog.

[dotsthefunist]

Some labor unions have become necessary evils but that has little to do with the necessities that created them . If greed is taught to be an admirable human trait or a fault caused by instinct ,breeding or medical conditions chances are we will still benefit from unions which is plural for union but thats if you believe people have to live with other people .

[Grunty1]

[ If greed is taught to be an admirable human trait ]

One of the Rushpublican party's planks.

[rejoiceinit]

Republicans are such classists. They are all for people making more money, as long as they are white collar.

[historymatters]

white collar, and from the right background, with the right family, the right religious beliefs, the right skin color, etc. Only homophobic WASPs need apply.

[mlaiuppa]

Target Citibank.

[mom2sons]

Cancelling my Pier 1 card today. The only way they will understand is to hit them in the pocketbook. Does anyone know if CapitalOne is involved? If so, I will cancel that one too. Using our taxpayer money to have lobbyists fight against us. I don't think so! Stand for something or fall for anything!