LaborPains.org

Sen. Sherrod Brown predicts that EFCA will undergo a major rewrite before the U.S. Senate will consider the legislation again. Sen. Brown, an ardent supporter of EFCA, said that the legislation will not get enough votes in its current form and expects a compromise to emerge. This might not be welcome news for labor officials, who have downplayed talk about any possible compromise.

In a Q&A with The Oregonian, labor and employment lawyer Rich Meneghello discusses why he opposes card check. In addition to the effective end of the secret ballot, which he worries that “employers are concerned they’ll wake up one day to find a union certified without them even know it was going on,” Meneghello also highlights concern with the binding arbitration provision of EFCA. Under EFCA’s binding arbitration provision, workers will be unable to vote on a contract and forced to abide by terms dictated by a federal bureaucrat.

A Philadelphia Inquirer op-ed argues that prevailing wage laws, a union favorite, are discriminatory towards minority workers. The author takes issue with Pennsylvania’s prevailing wage law, which was passed in 1961, 30 years after the Davis-Bacon Act. Prevailing wage law sets “minimum” wages for public works in a particular region.

Historically, prevailing wages were used to prevent black laborers from taking public construction jobs (re: union jobs). Today, prevailing wages are just another barrier to entry for firms trying to compete for public contracts, especially non-union firms.

Roll Call reports that “pro-EFCA groups showed no mercy on Capitol Hill this week” as labor continues to aggressively push for card check. Labor officials downplayed the talk of compromise on EFCA. AFL-CIO’s Bill Samuel said, “I don’t think the question is ‘Are we open to compromise?’ The way Congress works, a bill is marked up, amendments are offered, it’s either improved or weakened, and you make a judgment at the time.”

The article makes clear that labor does not plan to let EFCA go down without a fight.

General Motors plans to stall 15 North American assembly plants for up to nine weeks, beginning sometime mid-May through July. The shutdown will result in thousands of layoffs. Despite its well-publicized financial woes, GM will be forced to pay laid off workers most of their pay due to the United Auto Workers contract requiring the company to pay the difference between unemployment benefits and wages.

Las Vegas Review-Journal reports on Sen. John Ensign’s efforts to stir up support against EFCA at the grassroots level. Ensign, still worried about EFCA’s possible passage in the future, refuses to become complacent on EFCA.

The article also highlights an interesting grassroots event simulating card check. Particpants were asked to submit cards for a free lunch at a restaurant. The participants were surprised to learn that the “unreadable small print” on the card they filled out had signed them up for a union. As Ensign described it, “That’s a perfectly legal way to get signatures for card check, and that is exactly how a lot of these card checks take place.”

The Department of Labor has rescind a regulation that would increase scrutiny over union finances.

Currently, unions are required to file annual financial disclosures to the department’s Office of Labor-Management Standards. The information is utilized to investigate embezzlement, fraud, and other forms of financial corruption. It’s an interesting decision, given that the department’s own criminal investigations resulted in over 1,000 indictments, 929 convictions, and more than $93 million in court-ordered restitution from 2001 to 2008.

The Politico has an op-ed today by former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich focusing on another damaging component of EFCA: binding arbitration. The binding arbitration provisions in EFCA  require employers and workers to accept terms dictated by a federal bureaucrat. Workers will not only effectively lose their right to a secret ballot under EFCA, but also give up their right to vote on a contract.