Sen. Blanche Lincoln: I May Vote Against Employee Free Choice Act
Sen. Blanche Lincoln: I May Vote Against Employee Free Choice Act
The Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) is set to be one of the early battles between progressives and conservatives in the 111th Congress. The bill would give workers the option to form a union through a “card-check” system, in which a union would be recognized if a majority of workers signed a petition testifying to their desire to organize.
With the right wing and big business interests lining up against the measure, progressives need all the support they can get in Congress. However, the AP reports today that Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) is indicating she may vote against the measure:
Sen. Blanche Lincoln says she doesn’t think federal legislation that would allow labor organizations to unionize workplaces without secret-ballot elections is necessary. But in an interview with The Associated Press today, Lincoln gave herself room to support the measure if it’s brought up later.
Business and labor groups are pressuring the Democratic senator from Arkansas for support either way. Tim Griffin, a potential challenger to the senator’s 2010 re-election bid, has said her stand could be an issue in the race.
Lincoln’s potential opposition to EFCA is troubling. After all, unionization helps improve the economic conditions of workers, and Arkansas is in dire need of economic help. As the Wonk Room’s Pat Garofalo points out:
In 2007, just 8.8 percent of Arkansas workers were members of unions. That same year, an Arkansas worker’s average weekly wage was $712, which was 44th in the nation.
The Center for Economic and Policy Research has found that “unionization raises the wages of the typical low-wage worker (one in the 10th percentile) by 20.6 percent.” Furthermore, were the Free Choice Act to pass, it is estimated that an additional 14,157 workers in Arkansas would receive health insurance, while 11,164 would receive pension benefits.
Matt Yglesias, however, finds one reason Lincoln may be unwilling to back EFCA: Wal-Mart. The megastore has a long history of opposing unions, and Lincoln — along with other Arkansas politicians — are strong backers of Wal-Mart.
Who will win Lincoln’s vote? Wal-Mart or her struggling constituents?
Topic Cloud
ArchivesBlog Roll
With ‘DINOS’ like her, why do we need Rethuglicans?
December 17th, 2008 at 2:44 pm“Fcuk ‘em and feed ‘em fish-heads.”
- a Republican’s take on the working class.
December 17th, 2008 at 2:46 pmI do not wish to contemplate the question at the present time.
December 17th, 2008 at 2:46 pmSorry, meant to imply Blanche must have been dieting on fish heads lately.
December 17th, 2008 at 2:46 pmNot another fricking dumbass democrat!
December 17th, 2008 at 2:49 pmwonder whose paying her off for this vote?
anybody got a phone number for her so we can call (en masse) and ask?
December 17th, 2008 at 2:49 pmCan someone please explain why the unions are against secret-ballots? Whenever Republicans talk about card check, they always bring that up and it sounds VERY NEGATIVE. I think we need to do a better job of explaining this.
December 17th, 2008 at 2:53 pmLincoln’s potential opposition to EFCA is troubling. After all, unionization helps improve the economic conditions of workers, and Arkansas is in dire need of economic help.
It’s not about the workers’ needs, it’s about keeping HER Senate seat.
December 17th, 2008 at 2:55 pm#7
x2. I don’t understand this issue at all. Could someone PLEASE explain it to me. What’s wrong with secret ballots. It seems that would actually protect workers from employer intimidation.
December 17th, 2008 at 2:56 pmTim Griffin…the Rove surrogate who helped put Don Young in jail has the ‘juice’ to warn Lincoln about an election 2 years out?
It’s no surprise that Wal Mart execs hate unions. It’s no surprise that Wal Mart has a lot of support in Arkansas.
If they’re already pressuring Ms Lincoln, I believe I know which way she’ll vote.
December 17th, 2008 at 2:58 pmShe’s from the Mal_Wart state, whaddya expect?
December 17th, 2008 at 3:01 pmI think I can understand Lincoln’s position — she wants to keep her job.
Here in North Carolina, no elected official ever went against the tobacco industry, regardless of what their political ideology was (which means you have Congressmen who can be very progressive on everything else voting “no” on anything that might hurt big tobacco). If they did, they were voted out. Period.
I suspect Wal-Mart carries the same weight in Arkansas. And personally, I’d rather have Lincoln representing Arkansas than Tim Griffin. So if she has to oppose EFCA to keep her seat, so be it.
Hopefully, we will have enough support from elsewhere. But if we don’t, and we get Lincoln to vote for it, we must recognize that we’re asking her to fall on a live grenade for the team — and we won’t get her votes after 2010.
December 17th, 2008 at 3:06 pmas soon as we can certify the republican party dead, it will be time to focus on ejecting DINOs from the Democratic party. My suggestion is that it would be much easier if Blue Dogs and anyone that may be left from what used to be called “republican moderates”, go and form their own party.
Ideology and policy matters.
December 17th, 2008 at 3:14 pm#7 and #9, FYI. Draw your own conlcusions:
http://www.blueoregon.com/2008/08/efca-and-secret.html
December 17th, 2008 at 3:18 pmI don’t get excited about the prospect of more union members. My experience with them has been less than ideal….
Card checks are a terrible idea. The intimidation and peer pressure put on workers by their pro-union coworkers is real and persuasive. Secret ballots are good enough for President, why not for unions?
December 17th, 2008 at 3:29 pmThe intimidation and peer pressure put on workers by their pro-union coworkers is real and persuasive.
My experience is the complete opposite. Indeed, those who tried to bring in the union were fired the day after the “secret ballot” election in which the union lost.
And why did they lose? Who knows – I would guess the company telling everyone that if the union won they would just close up and move had something to do with it, but that’s just speculating on my part.
December 17th, 2008 at 3:35 pmThe Employee Free Choice Act doesn’t eliminate NLRB elections (”secret ballot” elections) — it just puts the decision of how to form a union, through majority sign-up or through an NLRB election, in the hands of the workers, not the employer. Right now, both options are available, but employers can veto workers’ choice for majority sign-up. Employers prefer the NLRB election process because that process heavily favors employers. It is a company-dominated election process. A survey of workers who went through both processes found that they experienced less coercion and pressure in majority sign-up than they did in the NLRB election process. A primary change made by the Employee Free Choice Act is to give workers, not their bosses, the choice on how to form a union – whether through majority sign-up or an NLRB election.
My boss, Rep. George Miller, sponsored the Employee Free Choice Act. You can read more about it on our website.
December 17th, 2008 at 3:43 pmWhen Florida passed the Prevailing Wage Law in 1979, Ironworkers(rodbusters,welders,structural and bolt-up men)in the Western Panhandle were being paid $9.16 per hour! Now the wage has risen all the way up to $10.10 per hour!
December 17th, 2008 at 3:44 pmbmillerkittredge Says:
Thanks for the link and info.
December 17th, 2008 at 3:53 pmSurprise, surprise, an Arkansas politician who won’t fight Walmart.
December 17th, 2008 at 3:54 pmThat’s easy: WALMART. This is where the 50-state strategy falls short. So what if a Dem wins in Arkansas? They will be a Dem in label only, not policy.
December 17th, 2008 at 4:00 pmShe is a corporate wh..e.It’s dem like Lincoln who were responsible for the mess we find ourselves in today.They cbacked the corporate agenda over workers & followed the Repukes lead on legislation & judiciary appoinments.The DLC-wing or more appropriately the Clinton faction.Just take a lokk at NAFTA & GATT policies.Really folks she does not belong in the Dem party.
December 17th, 2008 at 4:17 pmChrist, our party needs a cleaning-out.
December 17th, 2008 at 4:18 pmhttp://www.boingboing.net/2008/12/15/iraq-shoe-tosser-guy.html
December 17th, 2008 at 4:19 pmWhere does the government even get off telling people how they can or can’t form unions to begin with?
It’s funny, you give can give all the power you want to a party and it don’t mean a thing if they refuse to accept and wield it.
If Lincoln doesn’t represent the workers of her state (which far outnumber the big-box employers) then she ain’t a progressive and shouldn’t have been running as a Democrat in the first place. We’ll just have to find a better one for her seat next time.
December 17th, 2008 at 4:29 pm“With ‘DINOS’ like her, why do we need Rethuglicans?”
No. Throw them out of the party. Wal-Mart is anti-American to its very core.
December 17th, 2008 at 4:58 pmWatch the CorporaDemocrats. It’s more than the Blue Dogs in the House. A bunch are in the Senate.
They’re more likely to side with Repugnicants on business issues, than to join with progressive Democrats.
December 17th, 2008 at 5:25 pmhttp://www.heritage.org/research/labor/wm1363.cfm
Maybe Blanche Lincoln is listening to workers and not to Union Bosses.
http://www.mackinac.org/archives/2004/s2004-05.pdf
Go to page 4 #13. 53% of workers in this poll chose secret ballots over card checks.
December 17th, 2008 at 7:11 pmGo to #14. 71% say the secret ballot system is fair.
Go to #15. 63% say that protection of the secrecy is so important that there should be stronger laws protecting it.
Go to #17. 78% want to keep the existing system.
#20 is interesting too.
Adding her to my list. Will donate whatever I can to any primary candidate in 2010, when her seat comes up for re-election.
December 17th, 2008 at 9:37 pm