—By Kevin Mooney
OF all the labor unions exerting influence on Capitol Hill the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) has been the most influential in terms of pushing for the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), also known as card check, Ivan Osorio, an editorial director with the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) said on Tuesday.
Isorio took part in a panel discussion organized by the Capital Research Center (CRC) as part of a summit on labor issues this past Tuesday.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Right to Work Committee and other free market groups are opposed to card check because they say will it end the use of secret ballots in union elections and open the way to binding arbitration.
The SEIU’s political action committee (PAC) was among the 20 PAC contributors to members of Congress in the 2008 election cycle. Over 90 percent of its contributions went to Democrats this past election. However the SEIU (PAC)has generously supported Republican co-sponsors of the card-check bill. But the union has not limited its influence to Capital Hill, Isorio noted in his remarks.
“SEIU has perfected the strategy of the corporate campaign,” he said. “This is a multi-faceted strategy that includes liberal pressure groups. It is meant to look spontaneous when in fact it is organized and planned.”
Now that EFCA appears to be losing support SEIU’s communications strategy has become more strident, Osorio observed.
“SEIU is the primary driving force behind card check,” he said. “This is their end game.”
