Business leaders around the country are engaged in silent combat against a recently proposed bill that would make it easier for workers to organize.
Lobbying firms opposed to the divisive Employee Free Choice Act are receiving millions of dollars in quiet contributions from corporate giants to run full-page ads and television spots discrediting the bill and denouncing potential supporters in Congress, The New York Times reports. The Employee Free Choice Act would allow workers to unionize by a card-check process rather than a secret-ballot election. While the House passed a similar bill in 2007, it failed in the Senate on a procedural vote.
Republicans in the Senate were expected to question Representative Hilda L. Solis of California, President-elect Obama’s choice for labor secretary, over her support of the measure at a confirmation hearing Friday. Due to its contentious nature, Democrats have not yet introduced the measure—though they have identified it as a top legislative priority. If passed, labor leaders have said the healthcare industry will be one of their prime targets for unionization.
