PrintLawmakers from both chambers of Congress introduced their version of the Employee Free Choice Act today, with an eye toward bringing the bill to a vote in the Senate after the April recess, Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) said this afternoon.
Backers of the act - which would give workers the option of using a public rather than private ballot to decide whether to unionize, among other provisions - acknowledge that they likely do not yet have the 60 votes necessary to pass the measure in the Senate.
But Harkin expressed confidence today that moving the bill through regular order, including giving Republicans the opportunity to offer amendments, should allow them to get to that threshold in the Senate.
Education and Labor Chairman George Miller (D-Calif.), the House sponsor of the bill, also expressed confidence that the bill would become law. The bill currently has 40 co-sponsors in the Senate.
The Senate is expected to take up the bill first. Industry groups suggest that moderate-to-conservative Democrats would rather not have to cast a vote on the bill unless the Senate acts first and passes it. However, a House Democratic aide dismissed this notion, adding that House Democrats have the votes to pass the measure one way or another.
Democrats are committed to following regular order, including allowing amendments, Harkin said. The majority would also support some adjustments to the bill as long as they do not undercut the legislation's goals. Harkin declined to further elaborate on what changes might be acceptable.
Industry groups are skeptical that this would make a difference. There are no changes that would improve the bill to the point where additional Senators would support it, Marc Freedman, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's director of labor law policy, told CongressNow.
Business groups and many Republicans believe the legislation would leave workers open to union coercion and that it would undercut small businesses.
"If passed, EFCA would destroy jobs and place an even heavier burden on large and small companies," National Association of Manufacturers President and CEO John Engler said today. "This is a divisive issue at a critical time when the country needs to come together for economic recovery and job creation."
Many Senate Republicans agree. The bill "will kill jobs as small businesses struggle to meet union demands," Sen. John Thune (S.D.), vice chairman of the conservative Senate Republican Conference, said in a statement. "With the country in an economic crisis and working families struggling to pay their bills, Congress owes it to the American people to focus on creating jobs and growing the economy rather than paying back liberal special interests."
In addition to the public-ballot provision, the measure would increase penalties on employers who violate worker rights and provide for arbitration if an agreement cannot be reached directly between a company and its workers.
