Will Workers Be Betrayed Once Again, This Time With The Employee Free Choice Act?

[Better Believe It]

Senate Republicans Deal A Major Defeat to Labor
By CATHERINE S. MANEGOLD,
New York Times
July 13, 1994


Handing organized labor a major defeat, Senate Republicans today blocked passage of a bill that would have made it illegal for employers to hire permanent replacements for workers striking over wages and benefits. Republican threats to filibuster the bill, which passed the House comfortably last year, led Senate leaders to schedule today's vote over whether to cut off debate.

The bill, called the Striker Replacement Act in the House but renamed the Worker Fairness Act in the Senate to mute conservative opposition, was at the top of organized labor's legislative agenda and was a Labor Department priority under Secretary Robert B. Reich.

Despite early and consistent backing by President Clinton, however, it never inspired the midnight phone calls and political arm twisting that the White House has lavished on other difficult political issues like the North American Free Trade Agreement or last year's budget.

Since even the hint of a filibuster can move the Senate toward a cloture vote, which calls for a wider margin of victory than the passage of a bill does, the Republicans have found it an effective tactic in stalling or forcing changes in legislation that the party opposes but cannot defeat on a majority vote.

Supporters of the labor bill roundly attacked the threatened filibuster over the last two days, saying it prevented reasonable debate on a critical issue. Arguing that the allowance of permanent replacements nullifies other legal protections for strikers, Senator Barbara Boxer, Democrat of California, told the Senate that American workers were losing a basic right without a fair fight.

Speaking of the striker-replacement bill, David Westfall, a Harvard University law professor who specializes in labor and employment law, said, "This was labor's No. 1 priority, and if they could not pull this off even with a Democratic President who said he would sign it, then I think the whole striker-replacement issue is dead."

Read the complete article at:

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html...754C0A962958260

- Will a fake phantom filibuster by Republicans be enough to stop the Employee Free Choice Act or will Senate Democrats force Republicans to actually filibuster on the Senate floor until 60 votes for cloture is achieved? -