| March 09, 2009 |
| Politico |
| Alex Isenstadt |
You've probably seen the ads and heard the rhetoric on the House and Senate floor, but now the protests over the Employee Free Choice Act are under way. A spokeswoman for the Service Employees International Union says the organization has dispatched 300 labor union members to protest outside the offices of the Chamber of Commerce, a leading business group that has been leading the fight against the bill, which opponents call the card check legislation. "It's startling how huge a lobbying machine corporations have deployed against change that would help workers gain a greater voice at a time when our country and our economy so desperately need it," said Jeffrey Cappella, an SEIU spokesman. The clash comes one day before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee holds a hearing on the bill ? the official kickoff of the legislative battle. Business groups like the Chamber of Commerce fear this legislation will make it easier for workers to form unions, and they complain it takes away the secret ballot by making it easier to sign a petition to form a union. "We?re really glad they're here. Not only is it an advertisement for the chamber's effectiveness on card check, but this protest reveals exactly what the card check bill is designed to do: expose workers to these kinds of pressure tactics," said Steven Law, the chamber?s chief legal officer and general counsel. "Seriously, we hope they?ll stay all week." |
