By Corey Boles Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES WASHINGTON -(Dow Jones)- The U.S. Chamber of Commerce will spend around $10 million in the coming months to fight legislation it said would spell an effective end to secret ballot votes among employees seeking to form a labor union in the workplace.
Describing the coming fight in Congress over the issue as a "firestorm bordering on armageddon", Randel Johnson, executive director for labor issues at the Chamber, said defeating the measure was the lobby group's number one priority in the coming session of Congress.
Business groups like the chamber may have a difficult fight on their hands in preventing the Employee Free Choice Act from being signed into law.
President-elect Barack Obama voiced his support for the measure during the election campaign, and congressional Democrats will return to Capitol Hill in January with increased majorities in both the House and the Senate.
The party hasn't reached a 60 vote supermajority in the Senate, which would effectively allow them to pass any legislation they wanted. But with two Senate races outstanding, the Democrats have 58 seats including two independent senators who caucus with them.
Johnson said the chamber would concentrate its lobbying efforts on moderate Democratic senators and those from southern states where support for the legislation could prove unpopular among constitutents.
Currently, employees that are able to sign up 30% of workers in favor of organizing a union can apply to the federal government to hold a secret ballot vote on forming a union.
Alternatively, they can collect 50% of workers' support, and then appeal directly to the employer to recognize the formation of a union. Employers aren't obliged to do so however, and can insist on a vote being held.
An aide to Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., the chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, said that the bill doesn't address the question of secret ballot votes at all.
It would compel employers to agree to the creation of a union when presented with 50% of worker support, the aide said.
True, said the chamber, but the effective result will be that secret ballot votes would rarely be held anymore, which could lead to intimidation of reluctant workers by union organizers.
The group also argues that if presented with the signatures of 50% of workers, management would not be able to make its argument against a union, and those employees opposed would lose the right to cast a vote against one.
Labor groups argue that currently it is management that is engaging in intimidation of workers, and the proposed legislation would end that practice.
The bill passed the House in March 2007, shortly after Democrats took control of Congress, but then faltered in the Senate when Republicans voted it down.
Johnson said he anticipated the bill would come to another vote in the House by April.
A senior aide to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said the vote could come even sooner, saying it remained a priority of the Democratic leadership.
Johnson said the chamber is gearing up to aggressively fight the legislation by spending on grassroots opposition as well as advertising on television and radio.
As part of its efforts, the chamber published three white papers Tuesday which sought to debunk what it called myths surrounding the effectiveness of the labor movement in promoting workers' prosperity and rights.
A spokeswoman for the AFL-CIO, the largest group of labor unions, didn't return phone calls seeking comment for this article.
-By Corey Boles, Dow Jones Newswires; 202-862-6601; corey.boles@dowjones.com
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(END) Dow Jones Newswires
November 25, 2008 14:42 ET (19:42 GMT)

Publié le 25 novembre 2008 Copyright © 2008 Dowjones