Mass. House Approves Card Check Bill

A year after then-Gov. Mitt Romney vetoed the right of state workers to join unions when a majority of them sign cards, the Massachusetts House has passed a new version of the bill and the Senate is expected to follow suit.

The House voted overwhelmingly last week, 135-19, to pass the bill. It applies only to public workers but is similar to the federal Employee Free Choice Act now pending in Congress, which would give private-sector workers the chance to join unions free of delays and intimidation tactics.

"It comes down to employees who want to organize should be allowed to do so without impediment," said state Rep. Robert DeLeo, a Democrat and the bill's sponsor. "This creates a new system by which they can do so and that system is fair and efficient."

Romney, who is running for the Republican nomination for president, vetoed other workers' bills as well, including a minimum wage hike. He also used a line-item veto to block a provision in a health care bill that would have required employers who don't provide health insurance for their workers to pay a small amount into a state fund.