Tag: Employee Free Choice Act

The question must be asked: Is Chris Cillizza high? At the very least, the prominent Washington Post political blogger, whose The Fix column is a must-read inside the Beltway, is cruising along at such an altitude as to call into question whether he knows what's going on down here in fly-over country. In Cillizza's Friday Senate Line, he accurately frames next year's Colorado Senate race, where appointed neophyte Michael Bennet is a virtual unknown who can't dodge major issues, like the Employee Free Choice Act, forever. But there's no sign of a credible Republican challenger, able to raise the big bucks and storm a state that's been trending increasingly Blue. But Cillizza so clumsily blurs the details, we wonder whether whoever has been feeding him his Colorado scoop has been on vacation.

It's official: The U.S. economy has been in a recession for a year and a half and many of the economic troubles worrying progressives in 2007 have yet to be addressed. While the Obama administration has taken steps to relieve some problems, a series of counterproductive bailouts, woefully inadequate labor laws and rampant inequality are still in urgent need of attention.

Influential CSU board member Joe Blake went to Washington this week to lobby Sen. Bennett to oppose the Employee Free Choice Act. Blake purports to be speaking for the state's "business community," of course, whatever that means. Do a majority of businesses belong to this community and endorse its lobbying efforts? Does the community include investors, owners, managers, workers? Who are the members of this community, exactly?

A merchant seaman and union member explains to NBC's Today Show how the Maersk Alabama crew maintained control of their ship during a Somali pirate attack.

Chalk up another vote to bring the controversial Employee Free Choice Act, known as EFCA, to the full U.S. Senate for consideration. Ending plenty of speculation, a spokeswoman for Colorado Sen. Mark Udall on Wednesday morning told The Plum Line's Greg Sargent the Boulder Democrat will cast a key vote to bring the sweeping labor-backed legislation to a vote. That brings backers one step closer to the necessary 60 votes required for the Senate to hear the legislation, which would then only need a simple majority vote to pass.

It appears Colorado's newest U.S. Senator has been hitting the books on the black arts of political negotiation to use a wedge issue to his advantage. The Atlantic's Mark Ambinder writes today on his theory on Sen. Michael Bennet's maddeningly mute stance on the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA). It's a strong-arm tactic to bring labor and business together to negotiate on two causes close to the hearts of progressive activists and entrepreneurs alike: union-organizing and health care reform.

During a hearing on legislation that would reform Colorado's ballot initiative process, GOP lawmaker stuns colleagues with off-topic questions targeting labor official.

With new bailout plans for Wall Street being unveiled almost every week, it's easy to forget that nearly all of the work that fuels our economy takes place outside of Manhattan. While reviving the financial sector is an important part of recovery, any lasting economic solution must also empower American workers and protect them from corporate abuses. Workers' rights are a core issue for our democracy, as progressive icon Noam Chomsky argues in an interview with Paul Jay of The Real News. Chomsky advocates for a much broader palette of reform than a simple cleanup of the financial sector.

A representative with the world's largest business federation was in Denver on Monday to decry H.R. 800, federal legislation that would give workers greater rights to unionize. At the meeting, business leaders were not only told to oppose the proposal by putting pressure on members of Congress, but they were also encouraged to make changes to state law.

A pro-business group intent on torpedoing the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) is taking the battle to the airwaves in Colorado and three other states with a million-dollar ad campaign, TPM Election Central reports. The 30-second TV ad, which began airing Tuesday, links embattled Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich to a union backing the legislation and ends with a plea to "call Sen. (Ken) Salazar. Tell him to say no to the Union Boss Bailout."