Specter In Pittsburgh: Punishment and Reward at AFL-CIO Convention

“More than ever before, we need to be a labor movement that stands by our friends, punishes its enemies, and criticizes those who, well, can’t seem to decide which side they’re on.” –Rich Trumka, in the Washington Post Sept. 7, 2009

PITTSBURGH – When the history of the bi-partisan undermining of the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) is written, Pennsylvania Republican-turned-Democrat Arlen Specter will be assigned a pivotal role.

Back on March 24, when he was still in the GOP, Specter announced that he was no longer going to be the much-prized 60th vote for “cloture” on EFCA. That’s the procedure Senate Democrats will have to employ sometime later this year to overcome a Republican filibuster, and make what retiring AFL-CIO President John Sweeney was still predicting on Sunday would be “the greatest advances in labor law reform in 70 years.”

Senator Arlen Spector

In 2007, Specter supported bringing EFCA to the floor for a Senate vote, after it was passed overwhelmingly in the House. But according to the same Senator in March, “the problems of the recession” make this year “a particularly bad time to enact Employees Free Choice.”

In organizing campaigns, where NLRB elections have been by-passed and “card check” used instead to demonstrate majority support for unionization, Spectre said “there has been “widespread intimidation” by “union officials” when the latter “visit workers’ homes with strong-arm tactics and refuse to leave until cards are signed.”

To deal with this alleged coercion, Specter recommended making it an unfair labor practice for any “union official” to visit “an employee at his/her home without prior consent for any purpose related to a representation campaign.”

While letting everyone know in March that he was no longer for cloture, Specter also positioned himself to play a key role brokering a compromise with colleagues like Tom Harkin and Chuck Schumer, who might “choose to move on and amend the NLRA” in ways more acceptable to Arlen.   

With a labor law reform record like this, Specter would seem to be just the kind of politician who needs a little labor “punishment” to send a message to the rest of his wavering breed — particularly since he now faces a Democratic primary challenge next year by a pro-EFCA congressman.

In several recent interviews, new AFL-CIO president Rich Trumka indicated that he favored holding politicians more accountable, “so they don’t listen to the moneyman and continue to erode away or negotiate away” key labor goals, a trend most evident lately in healthcare reform.

Nevertheless, here we are at the Pittsburgh Convention Center, on day three of the AFL-CIO’s quadrennial meeting, listening to that same Rich Trumka give a warm welcome to none other than Arlen Specter. From Trumka, we learn that his friend Arlen has been a rare “pro-labor Republican” for years.

From the wrinkled, frail-looking 79-year old Specter, we get a quick recitation of his past responsiveness to top union officials when job safety and health enforcement, or some other federal government function of benefit to workers, was under siege by the string of Republican presidents that he helped elect (two Bushes and a Reagan).

Today, the senator noted, he was working for a “robust public option in healthcare,” sanctions on imported Chinese tires, and emission standards that wouldn’t jeopardize jobs in coal mining, steel making, or other manufacturing.

On the matter of what he called “employees’ choice,” Specter reassured his audience that his latest position—spelled out in little detail—met the three standards set forth by Trumka, in a Sept. 5 New York Times article headlined “Union Head Would Back Bill Without Card Check.” (That was a reference to Sweeney’s own Labor Day weekend expression of willingness “to accept a fast election campaign instead of card check.” 

As described by Specter, Trunka’s three minimum requirements for “labor law reform” now include “prompt certification,” “tough penalties,” and “binding arbitration” of first contracts. According to Specter, a half dozen Senators, plus himself, Harkin, and Schumer, are working on a new version of EFCA that will “be totally satisfactory to labor.”

Specter both referenced —and was aided in his performance— by a local headline today announcing an impending Right-to-Work Committee “ad blitz” directed at him and the now abandoned “card check” method he criticized, much like the RTWC, back in March.  A full-page ad in yesterday’s Post-Gazette, run by the business-backed “Coalition for a Democratic Workplace,” still urged Specter to “oppose any versions of the job-killing” EFCA that would “shift power from workers to union bosses” or give “government-appointed bureaucrats more control in setting wages.”

These costly exertions by the anti-EFCA lobby reflect quite a different stance than elements of corporate America have taken vis-à-vis health care. In that ongoing “reform process,” labor defenders and facilitators of compromise (like SEIU leader Dennis Rivera) can at least point, as President Obama does, to what they consider to be positive movement on the part of some management players. When the subject is labor law reform —either as originally conceived or sans card check— the labor concessions made so far, brokered by the likes of Specter, have yet to be matched by anyone speaking for the employer side.

In the meantime, President Obama, who also addressed the convention today, is flying off to Philadelphia with his arm around Specter. They’ll be there together tonight at a big Specter re-election fundraiser, where Obama will be offering the same kind of reward for Specter’s party-switch that the AFL-CIO is prepared to give as well, in the hopes of getting EFCA-Lite in return.

About the Author: Steve Early is author of Embedded With Organized Labor: Journalistic Reflections on the Class War at Home, is a labor journalist and lawyer who has written for numerous publications. He was a Boston-based international representative or organizer for the Communications Workers of America for 27 years, and is a member of the editorial advisory committees of three independent labor publications: Labor Notes, New Labor Forum and Working USA.

This article was originally published in Working In These Times on September 15, 2009. Re-printed with permission from the author.

walmart hoodia Pfizer Hoodia “mega t with hoodia”
nv south african hoodia Hoodia Gordonii Uk South African hoodia real plant
lowest price on hoodia hoodia Hoodia Gordonii Desert Burn natural weight loss appetite hoodia!
dex-l10 hoodia Hoodia Patch Critics “hoodia gordonii blood presure”
diet pills with hoodia Hoodia Diet Pills Site hoodia species
hoodia herb Green Tea With Hoodia making a product with hoodia
import and export of hoodia Premium Hoodia Patch Hoodia gordina hoodia gordini 423.
cortisol hoodia Slimciti Hoodia 90 hoodia and heart problems
hoodia slimming pills Does Walmart Hoodia Work hoodia gordoni
oprah show hoodia Making A Product With Hoodia hoodia hypertension
Oprah winfrey and hoodia oprah winfrey hoodia 364. Articles On Hoodia Gordonii google hoodia
weight loss hoodia cbs november! Slimciti Hoodia 90 S “hoodia gordonii bbb”
hoodia gnc Hoodia And Hypothyroidism hoodia 24
hoodia gordonii plus sellers Hoodia Canada does hoodia dex-l10 work
hoodia chaser Hoodia Xpf Plus 100 pure hoodia gordonii
10-day hoodia diet Whole Foods Market Hoodia hoodia gordonii energy
hoodia for diet Hoodia Gordonni Weightloss bulk hoodia?
hoodia pro and cons What Is Hoodia Gordonii hoodia and diet
hoodia medicinal Purchase Hoodia Pops power pops with hoodia
lowest price on hoodia hoodia Hoodia Cheap perfect hoodia!
slimquick hoodia; Erectile Dysfunction Hoodia Gordonii hoodia afordable
hoodia glucomann blend Hoodia For Weight Loss hoodia balance
hoodia safety Hoodia Diarreah hoodia gordonii cactus plant
hoodia xpf, Oprah And Hoodia hoodia weight loss product
hoodia walgreens Hoodia Star hoodia gordonii purist
100 hoodia patch Dex-l10 Hoodia what is hoodia x57!
google hoodia Hoodia Interact Drug high fiber hoodia
“hoodia gordonii weight loss claims” Hoodia Diet Supplement buy hoodia wholesale;
hoodia stories; Hoodia Long Term phentermine 37.5 overnight phentramine hoodia
pure health hoodia Natural Hoodia fat pill hoodia?
“hoodia patch retailers” Costco Liquid Hoodia pure hoodia tincture;
consumer reports hoodia Hoodia Banis clinical study hoodia
hoodia liquid extract Hoodia 60 Minutes Hoodia weight treatment hoodia weight watchers 663.
organic hoodia Pure Hoodia slimciti hoodia 90s
hoodia slim, Google Hoodia oprah winfry and hoodia
hoodia research Does Hoodia Work Hoodia cheap hoodia chews discount 404.
hoodia chews discount? Hoodia Gordini hoodia diet sit
hoodia dex l10 Nutracore Hoodia walmart hoodia
“mega t with hoodia” Hoodia Gordonii Cactus nv south african hoodia
hoodia real plant Where To Buy Slimciti Hoodia lowest price on hoodia hoodia
natural weight loss appetite hoodia! 100 Hoodia dex-l10 hoodia
“hoodia gordonii blood presure” Hoodia At Gnc diet pills with hoodia
hoodia species Hoodia Increased Energy Weight Loss hoodia herb

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Pinterest
Email
Tracking image for JustAnswer widget
Tracking image for JustAnswer widget
Scroll to Top

Madeline Messa

Madeline Messa is a 3L at Syracuse University College of Law. She graduated from Penn State with a degree in journalism. With her legal research and writing for Workplace Fairness, she strives to equip people with the information they need to be their own best advocate.