The mail-in provision was disclosed by unionists attending the big conference of progressives in Washington earlier this month. One pro-worker negotiator, Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, confirmed to Press Associates Union News Service that mail-in balloting “is one option we’re considering.” They’re still going through details, he added.
The talks are led by the act’s new sponsor, Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa. He told the activists that negotiations are continuing. Harkin reiterated that if they fail, he will bring the original legislation to the Senate floor to force an up-or-down vote. Some reports said Vice President Joseph Biden, a longtime pro-worker senator, is actively participating in the bargaining, but Brown said Biden has not been in sessions he attended.
If the ballot provision is inserted in the proposed legislation, workers would vote by mail, in union authorization elections, still with the requirement that the union would need a majority of votes cast to win. Mail-in ballots are now used in some union recognition votes, notably at airlines and railroads, under provisions of the Railway Labor Act (RLA), which covers those two industries.
That mail-in ballot provision would replace “majority sign-up,” where the union must get signed and verified election authorization cards from an absolute majority of workers at a shop. The union could then demand and get automatic recognition, or it could choose to go through the National Labor Relations Board elections process.
Still another compromise being discussed, Brown said, is to legally shorten election campaigns. That’s a position put forth by, among others, Service Employees President Andrew Stern. Stern argues that shorter campaigns would give firms less time and scope for the rampant illegal intimidation, harassment, spying, threats and firings companies now use to combat union organizing.
The revisions of the Employee Free Choice Act are designed to bring over wavering Democrats, notably both Arkansas senators, California’s Dianne Feinstein, and Republican-turned-Democrat Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, in what will be the key vote, to break the GOP talkathon against the bill, labor’s No. 1 legislative priority.
Whether unionists would accept a mail-in ballot compromise is open to question. David Bonior, president of American Rights At Work, which is leading the pro-worker information and advertising campaign for the bill, said that if the mail-in is inserted, “He (Harkin) will bring it back to us and we’ll decide if we can support it.”
Mark Gruenberg writes for Press Associates, Inc., news service. Used by permission.
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The mail-in provision was disclosed by unionists attending the big conference of progressives in Washington earlier this month. One pro-worker negotiator, Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, confirmed to Press Associates Union News Service that mail-in balloting “is one option we’re considering.” They’re still going through details, he added.
The talks are led by the act’s new sponsor, Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa. He told the activists that negotiations are continuing. Harkin reiterated that if they fail, he will bring the original legislation to the Senate floor to force an up-or-down vote. Some reports said Vice President Joseph Biden, a longtime pro-worker senator, is actively participating in the bargaining, but Brown said Biden has not been in sessions he attended.
If the ballot provision is inserted in the proposed legislation, workers would vote by mail, in union authorization elections, still with the requirement that the union would need a majority of votes cast to win. Mail-in ballots are now used in some union recognition votes, notably at airlines and railroads, under provisions of the Railway Labor Act (RLA), which covers those two industries.
That mail-in ballot provision would replace “majority sign-up,” where the union must get signed and verified election authorization cards from an absolute majority of workers at a shop. The union could then demand and get automatic recognition, or it could choose to go through the National Labor Relations Board elections process.
Still another compromise being discussed, Brown said, is to legally shorten election campaigns. That’s a position put forth by, among others, Service Employees President Andrew Stern. Stern argues that shorter campaigns would give firms less time and scope for the rampant illegal intimidation, harassment, spying, threats and firings companies now use to combat union organizing.
The revisions of the Employee Free Choice Act are designed to bring over wavering Democrats, notably both Arkansas senators, California’s Dianne Feinstein, and Republican-turned-Democrat Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, in what will be the key vote, to break the GOP talkathon against the bill, labor’s No. 1 legislative priority.
Whether unionists would accept a mail-in ballot compromise is open to question. David Bonior, president of American Rights At Work, which is leading the pro-worker information and advertising campaign for the bill, said that if the mail-in is inserted, “He (Harkin) will bring it back to us and we’ll decide if we can support it.”
Mark Gruenberg writes for Press Associates, Inc., news service. Used by permission.