I have had my doubts, as expressed here over these many months, about the Employee Free Choice Act–whether it would do what the labor movement said it would do (unleash organizing of millions of workers) and, most important, whether it would pass in its proposed form.
Well, you can forget about the latter part–and we can stop calling it the "card check" bill since, thanks to some weasels in the Democratic Party, "card check" is no more:
A half-dozen senators friendly to labor have decided to drop a central provision of a bill that would have made it easier to organize workers.
The so-called card-check provision — which senators decided to scrap to help secure a filibuster-proof 60 votes — would have required employers to recognize a union as soon as a majority of workers signed cards saying they wanted a union. Currently, employers can insist on a secret-ballot election, a higher hurdle for unions.
The abandonment of card check was another example of the power of moderate Democrats to constrain their party’s more liberal legislative efforts. Though the Democrats have a 60-40 vote advantage in the Senate, and President Obama supports the measure, several moderate Democrats opposed the card-check provision as undemocratic.
"Card check" was the the thing that the bill was about–or so we heard for lo these many months. Now, it’s left to the labor movement to explain why what will be left is good enough. That will be an interesting exercise.
We could also admit two things. One, when it comes right down to it, the kind of people labor supports in the Democratic Party are not reliable when it comes down to a fight-or-die moment for workers. Second, the strategy to pass the bill was an insiders game that never engaged the public, partly because we left the campaign in the hands of some people who are entirely clueless about talking to anyone but themselves.
Another option is for some people in the labor movement to decide that maybe it’s worth saying, "to hell with you all" and come up with a better organizing and political strategy that does not rest on relying on people who will sell us out in a heart beat.
