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Labor Unions’ Push For New Members
02/17/2009
Jonathan C. Wilson

With the election of President Barack Obama and the significant gains by Democrats in both the Senate and the House, employers are likely to face an increase in new labor and employment law legislation affecting the workplace. Labor unions threw their support solidly behind President Obama in the national election, and it is anticipated that President Obama will reward labor unions for their support. In his first move to appease organized labor, in December 2008, Mr. Obama announced that he would nominate Representative Hilda Solis of California, to serve as Secretary of Labor. According to a congressional analysis reported in The Dallas Morning News, Representative Solis voted in favor of legislation supported by labor unions 100 percent of the time last year. It is also no secret that the highest legislative priorities for labor unions in the 111th Congress is passage of the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) and the Re-Empowerment of Skilled and Professional Employees Construction Tradeworkers Act (RESPECT). As Senators, Mr. Obama and Joseph Biden supported the EFCA and RESPECT Acts which only stalled in Congress because of a Republican filibuster and threatened veto by President Bush.  

Bloomberg Law Reports, Labor & Employment Vol. 3, No. 7, February 17, 2009 © Bloomberg Finance L.P. 2009. Originally published by Bloomberg Finance LP. Reprinted by permission.

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