EFCA gets a number

By Jennifer J. Foster

You may remember that we began talking about the Employer Free Choice Act here back in October.

It was a campaign issue in the presidential race and in many congressional races throughout the country, including here in the Alabama Third.

The bill went from rhetoric to reality Tuesday when it was filed by Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.).

EFCA, now also known as H.R. 1409, debuted with 223 co-sponsors in the House. But, as The Hill points out, that’s fewer than the last go-round:

That is less support than it attracted in the last Congress, even though Democrats now hold more seats in both chambers. In 2007, EFCA had 230 co-sponsors on its day of introduction in the House and 46 in the Senate.

Hmm.

As you might imagine, this bill was Issue No. 1 at last week’s AFL-CIO meeting in Miami. Both President Obama and Vice President Biden assured labor leaders and conventioneers that they are committed to getting EFCA passed.

What’s the big deal about this bill? Read The Hill’s excellent article for background.

I will link you below to some of the sites run by interest groups involved with this bill, but I did want to point out this AFL-CIO page discussing the bill’s progress in the last Congress. Notice that the rundown lists nearly 300 legislators from the House and Senate. I counted four Republican co-sponsors in the House and exactly one in the Senate—and even he was backing off last year.

Only in Washington could someone look at five members of one party joining 275-plus members of the other party and deem it “bipartisan support” with a straight face.

Get ready, folks. This bill is going to be a fight.

See also:

My first post about EFCA; Oct. 9, 2008

My second post about EFCA; Oct. 14, 2008

The AFL-CIO’s page on this issue and FreeChoiceAct.org, a project of American Rights at Work, an AFL-CIO-funded, nonpartisan, nonprofit advocacy organization

The latest from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce on this issue, notes on the bill from the Heritage Foundation and Alliance for Worker Freedom, a project of Americans for Tax Reform

U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin’s news release about EFCA’s filing. Notice how he minimizes the removal of the secret ballot provision (and calls the bill bipartisan): “The bipartisan Employee Free Choice Act simply gives workers the choice of whether to form a union either through majority signup or an NLRB election.“ Simply.

Former U.S. Sen. George McGovern’s commercial and column opposing EFCA. This is notable because, as McGovern notes in the ad, he spent his career supporting labor causes.