EFCA Legislation Continues to Move Forward

According to TheHill.com, Senators have hammered out a compromise that would allow unions to swell their ranks, and a key lawmaker said it should pass this year.

Sen. Arlen Specter (D-Pa.) on Tuesday told the AFL-CIO convention in Pittsburgh that he has been working hard “for hours” on a deal with other key senators, such as Sens. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) and Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), as well as labor leaders, on the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA).

“We have pounded out an Employees Choice bill which will meet labor’s objectives,” Specter said. “I believe before the year is out, and I will join my colleague Sen. [Bob] Casey [Jr. (D-Pa.)] in predicting, that there will be passage of an Employees Free Choice Act which will be totally satisfactory to labor.”

The bill is one of the labor movement’s most important legislative priorities this Congress, one they believe is necessary to protect workers’ rights. Specter’s prediction was greeted by a prolonged standing ovation from the convention’s attendees, members of the nation’s largest union federation.

Specter cited three principles pushed by unions for labor law reform that he agrees with: no delays in union certification, tough penalties for labor law violations and binding arbitration for management and workers to reach union contracts more quickly.

What was unsaid in the senator’s speech was whether a core provision in the bill was part of the deal. Click here for the full article.

The Chamber in conjunction with Mark Kittaka of Barnes & Thornburg LLP and Tom Kimbrough of Barrett & McNagny LLP is providing an update on this controversial legislation and informing employers of the impact it could have on their business. Click here for more information.