Specter’s defection gives no edge to card check

By Lisa Mascaro

Thursday, April 30, 2009 | 2 a.m.

Long before Republican Sen. Arlen Specter announced he was switching political parties, he laid down a pivotal marker in what has emerged as one of the most hard-fought issue of this Congress: the Employee Free Choice Act.

Specter said last month he opposed the bill that would make it easier for unions to organize. Many saw Specter’s opposition as a blow. He would not help Democrats reach the 60-vote threshold needed to overcome a Republican filibuster.

Specter’s newfound place in the Democratic Party has not changed that calculus. In announcing his switch Tuesday, he said he would not change positions on the bill.

Yet Specter has mentioned alternatives that could help labor achieve similar goals. A few of those suggestions have emerged among the items being discussed as a possible route to a middle ground on the issue.

Unable to reach the 60 votes needed in the Senate to push the bill forward, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid indicated this week that the version of the legislation now before Congress may not be the final one.

“This is a moving target,” Reid said.

The Employee Free Choice Act, also known as card check, is the top priority of organized labor and the biggest target of the business community.

The bill would lead to an increase in unionized workers by allowing workers to sign up, rather than convene a secret ballot election. Union supporters say the change is needed because managers often drag out elections and intimidate workers.

But the business community fought to change labor law in the 1940s to require secret ballot elections, and it believes unions will intimidate workers without the privacy of the ballot. (Under the proposed legislation, secret ballots could still be used if workers chose that method.)

In public, both sides in the card check debate are holding fast to their positions, refusing to budge.

Yet alternatives are quietly circling to try to forge a bill that could be passed.

Among the ideas:

• Speeding up the election process by requiring that an election be held within 10 days of a petition filed by the union and employer. If only the union files the petition, resolve the issue within 14 days and hold the election within the next week.

• Barring as unfair labor practices the ability of employers to require employees to attend mandatory campaign education events.

• Conducting a two-pronged sign-up process where workers can pen their names to a card to support a vote, but then sign as separately either supporting or opposing the formation of a union.

Earlier there had been discussion of toning back a clause that requires binding arbitration if workers and managers were unable to reach a first contract. There had also been discussion of adding provisions to protect small businesses.

But none of these ideas are getting traction, as the bridge between unions and business remains wide.

Union advocates see the alternatives as helpful, but not going far enough.

Similarly, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce seems unwilling to yield on two key provisions: the sign-up system and binding arbitration for stalled contract talks.

The numbers, for now, don’t show a clear path forward for Democrats. A handful of Democratic senators have expressed opposition. The party has 59 senators and could have 60 if the Minnesota race is decided in favor of candidate Al Franken. Theoretically, some senators could vote to advance the bill during the procedural move called cloture, and then vote against the bill that would only need a simple majority to pass.

But Specter and at least one other Democratic opponent, Sen. Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas, say they would not vote for cloture, leaving Democrats shy of the 60 needed.

Nevada’s delegation in Congress is divided on the issue. Reid and the Democrats in the House, Reps. Shelley Berkley and Dina Titus support the bill, while Republicans Sen. John Ensign and Rep. Dean Heller oppose it.