Labor Pains: Because Being in a Union can be Painful

White House Offers Tepid Support For EFCA

We won’t know exactly what happened at yesterday’s closed-door meeting between President Obama and the dozen top labor bosses, but based on various accounts from the gathering, it doesn’t appear as if the White House is too eager to throw its political capital behind EFCA.

President Obama said – as expected – that he still supports EFCA, but “did not offer any timeline.” Not the exact answer that the labor bosses wanted to hear, considering it is their top priority. Responses from labor bosses emerging from the meeting left much to be desired:

UAW Secretary-Treasury Elizabeth Bunn attended the meeting instead. She said it was a “great” meeting but declined to elaborate as she exited the White House.

Here’s the list of attendees (h/t ABC News). I can only imagine what the tension was like between the warring labor bosses who had to make niceties and sit next to each other:

  • Change to Win Chair Anna Burger
  • AFL-CIO President John Sweeney
  • National Education Association President Dennis Van Roekel
  • Service Employees International Union President Andy Stern
  • United Food and Commercial Workers President Joe Hansen
  • Laborers International Union of North America President Terry O’Sullivan
  • International Brotherhood of Teamsters President Jim Hoffa
  • American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees President Gerry McEntee
  • American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten
  • United Auto Workers Secretary-Treasurer Elizabeth Bunn
  • United Steelworkers President Leo Gerard
  • International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers President Ed Hill
  • Communication Workers of America President Larry Cohen
  • American Rights at Work Chair David Bonior
Categories: AFL-CIOAFSCMECenter for Union FactsEFACEnding Secret BallotsNewsSEIUTeamstersUAWUFCW