Election '08: What's Really at Stake? - Workers’ Rights - A Corporate vs. Labor Point of View

On the subject of workers' rights, the gulf between the candidates for president couldn't be wider.

Obama has pledged before both union and general audiences to fight for and sign the Employee Free Choice Act. He promises to once again make workers' rights and safety the mission of the Department of Labor and National Labor Relations Board — both crippled by eight years of cronyism that put corporate profits above all else. He also pledges to work to ban permanent replacements for striking workers.

"It's time we played offense for organized labor," Obama likes to say. "It's time we had a president who didn't choke saying the word 'union,' a president who knows it's the Department of Labor and not the Department of Management."

By contrast, John McCain voted against bringing the Employee Free Choice Act to a vote in the Senate, where there was majority support of the bill, and he criticizes the bill on his campaign website.

On other worker rights issues over the years, McCain voted for a national "right-to-work" law that would have crippled union bargaining power in every state. He voted in favor of permanent striker replacement and voted to deny collective bargaining rights to state and local police and firefighters, as well as to TSA airport screeners.