Momentum Seems to Shift Away from \Card Check\ Bill

AGC of America reports that recently there have been a few twists in the card check debate. Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) announced her opposition to the Card Check bill and said she would vote against even considering the bill in the Senate. This coupled with Sen. Arlen Specters (R-PA) announcement of his opposition last week leaves Card Check proponents four votes shy of what they need to advance the bill in the Senate.

Some Card Check supporters acknowledge their set backs and are now talking about considering significant labor law reforms. Card Check supporters in Congress continue to push Card Check and have yet to consider any other option.

AGC is concerned that work towards a compromise is a Trojan horse that would likely be used to advance the full Card Check bill during Senate consideration. We have a deep concern that even a genuine and well-intended compromise proposal could become a Trojan horse that the bills proponents would use to sneak the original proposal past a cloture vote in the Senate said AGC of America CEO Stephen Sandherr. The construction industry has no way to prevent such a compromise from turning back into the original bill during a subsequent conference between the House and Senate.

AGC of America is urging members to continue to contact their representatives in DC and to urge members of the House and Senate to NOT cosponsor the bill and not support it should it come up for a vote. To easily do so go to the AGC of Americas Legislative Action Center.

The Card Check bill also known as the Employee Free Choice Act would allow unions to be recognized if a majority of the employees in a bargaining unit signed authorization cards (50 percent plus one) allowing the unions to waive the current National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) supervised secret ballot process.

The second element of the Act would force contract negotiations into binding arbitration if the employer fails to agree on a contract with the newly recognized union within 120 days from the beginning of negotiations. Finally the Act would impose stiffer penalties on employers but not on unions for Unfair Labor Practices (ULP) incurred during this process.