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Are Senate Dems About To Cave On GOP Union-Busting?
Senate Democrats and organized labor have reached a make or break moment over House-passed legislation that will make it harder for transportation workers to unionize.
One labor official said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Commerce Committee chairman Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) had "sold out" workers, by striking a deal with Republicans on a long-term reauthorization of Federal Aviation Administration programs -- and they have a brief window in which to set things right.
The issue goes back months.
Democrats and Republicans have been unable to pass a long-term reauthorization because Republicans insisted it include a provision that would change mediation rules such that workers who abstained from unionization votes would be counted as if they'd voted "no."
Democrats held their ground, and the provision was stripped. However, what went in was this: a new union-busting measure would make it harder for workers to trigger a union election by increasing the percentage of workers who must declare interest in unionizing from 35 to 50.
After giving it serious consideration, major unions have concluded that compromise measure is just as unacceptable. Now they're calling on members to stand against the package until the offending provisions are deleted.
"Rewarding the House Republican Leadership's desire to rewrite decades of long...
