Doctor and senior woman wearing facemasks during coronavirus and flu outbreak. Virus protection. COVID-2019..

The Employee Free Choice Act, a bill that would make it easier for unions to organize, is essentially dead for now, and labor groups may have played a big part in killing it, a recent news article suggests.

An AFL-CIO poll found that 49% of Massachusetts’ union members voted for Scott Brown in the recent Senate special election, The Politico reported. It is unclear why so many union members, who tend to vote Democratic, switched their longstanding political affiliation. Regardless of the reason, Brown’s election gives Republicans the chance to filibuster legislation in the Senate, including the Employee Free Choice Act, also known as the card-check bill, according to Politico.

The bill’s chief sponsor, Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA), acknowledged that card-check is on the ropes but vowed never to give up on passing the pro-labor legislation, Politico reports.