The willingness of some Democrats to drop the “card check” portion of a union organizing bill has led opponents of the measure to intensify their attack on another major provision: binding arbitration if a new union and management can’t agree on a first contract within 120 days.
“We suspected from the beginning that the binding arbitration was packaged with the elimination of the secret ballot in order to create a straw man they could take down later,” said Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C.
A small group of senators led by Tom Harkin. D-Iowa, is working out a compromise of the Employee Free Choice Act, one of the most polarizing measures in Congress and the top legislative priority of labor leaders, who want to reverse years of declining union membership.
Although Democrats have 60 votes in the Senate, several moderates — including Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas and Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania — have insisted they cannot support the bill as is.
Anti-union forces are targeting at least a half-dozen Democrats, and one group spent $1 million this month on TV ads in Nebraska alone, targeting Democratic Sen. Ben Nelson.
For months, business groups focused on fighting “card check,” which would allow employees to form a union by signing cards instead of holding secret-ballot elections. That changed earlier this month, when some labor leaders and lawmakers indicated they were willing to drop card check from the labor law overhaul if that would help the bill overcome a Senate filibuster.
Arbitration now looms as the bill’s most prominent sticking point. Anti-union groups, already spending millions on television advertising, direct mail and lobbying campaigns against the bill, have tweaked their message to stress how damaging they believe arbitration would be to employers.
Labor advocates say they are committed to passing a bill that allows workers to join a union without intimidation, harassment and unfair delays. Once a compromise is reached, Democrats are expected to push for a quick vote sometime after Congress passes health care reform legislation.
“There has to be a dispute resolution mechanism that doesn’t allow employers to delay and use that as a last trap door to avoid the employees’ decision to have a union,” said Richard Trumka, secretary-treasurer of the AFL-CIO.
Business groups say arbitration would allow a federal official who knows nothing about a company to suddenly dictate workplace rules including salaries, benefits and vacations.
They also say there is a big difference between settling one dispute via arbitration, and settling an entire contract that way.
“Card check is the political poison in the bill, but forced arbitration is the real poison,” said Steven Law, general counsel of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
Labor advocates argue the struggle some workers face to get a contract months or even years after voting for a union is a central reason that arbitration need to be part of the bill.
