Biden Talks Card Check at AFL-CIO Meeting

This week at the AFL-CIO winter meeting, Vice President Biden told supporters that the so-called Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) could still be passed this year.   Though the challenge of pushing this legislation through the Senate became difficult with the election of Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.), those in favor of the bill are still trying to find a way to get something passed this year.  Some senators still would like to see a compromise, which AGC anticipates would include post cards instead of secret ballot elections - so-called "quickie" elections - to be held within a certain timeframe, and increased access to the work place by union organizers.  If unable to come to a compromise, Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) has called for the Senate to vote on the legislation. AGC remains firm in the belief that there cannot be any compromise. AGC is concerned that even a genuine and well-intended proposal for a compromise could become a "Trojan horse" that EFCA's proponents would simply use to sneak EFCA past a cloture vote in the Senate. Unless and until EFCA's proponents completely and irreversibly abandon that legislation, the risk of a compromise becoming a "Trojan horse" for EFCA will remain too great for this industry to entertain any discussion of compromise.  Click here to send a letter in opposition to EFCA to your senators. All senators need to keep hearing about opposition to EFCA. Read the latest article in the Wall Street Journal on EFCA.