Senate Races in 2008 Key to Winning Employee Free Choice Act

With a number of strong pro-worker candidates running for the U.S. Senate next year, a breakthrough in labor's efforts to make the Employee Free Choice Act the law of the land is in reach.

"We passed the Employee Free Choice Act in the House of Representatives and won 51 votes in the Senate, but we fell short because a majority vote in the Senate isn't enough in our democracy," said CWA President Larry Cohen.

"In the 2006 elections, CWA and other unions laid the groundwork to gain a pro-working family majority in both houses of Congress. In Election 2008, the stakes are higher than ever. We know that our work can make a real difference, it's up to us to make it happen," Cohen said.

There currently are 52 votes in the Senate of the 60 votes that are needed to cut off extended debate and move to a final vote on the measure. There is a good chance that Democrats who support the Employee Free Choice Act can be elected in seven or more states.

In New Hampshire, former Gov. Jeanne Shaheen is considered a strong candidate to beat Republican Sen. John Sununu, who won the seat in 2002. Shaheen has pledged her support for the Employee Free Choice Act, which would help rebuild America's middle class by restoring workers' badly eroded rights to organize unions and bargain contracts.

The work that CWAers did this year to help elect Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear has put the Senate seat of Minority Leader Mitch McConnell in reach as well. Other states where labor can make a real difference are Alaska, Maine, Colorado, Minnesota, Oregon, Alaska and Virginia.

Cohen said any congressional candidate who wants support from CWA members must pledge to support the Employee Free Choice Act. "We want legislators to make the connection between what's happening to workers' bargaining rights and the need to rebuild the middle class," he said.

The Democratic National Committee, at the urging of Cohen and CWA Secretary-Treasurer Barbara J. Easterling, passed a resolution calling on Congress and any new Democratic administration to make the Employee Free Choice Act a top priority in 2009. Easterling is a member of the resolution committee.

With 60 votes in the Senate, a continuing pro-worker majority in the U.S. House – where the bill passed by a wide margin last spring -- and a Democratic president, the Employee Free Choice Act could become law as early as 2009, Cohen said.