thetruthaboutefca.com | The Truth About The Employee Free Choice Act & Card Check

Remember, this is just the latest rumor from a mill that turns them out like widgets, but the PAwatercooler blog gets an email from a “trusted” source regarding Sen. Arlen Specter and the Employee Free Choice Act:

My brother in law snuck into a democrat only townhall in Mifflintown PA at the Family House Restaurant [Wednesday]. It was just a fluke encounter. Specter told a woman there that he would be supporting Card Check and her union brother should “be very happy.” My brother in law just called Specter’s office. He is now on record as supporting the legislation.

It’s worth keeping an eye on.

UPDATE (8/14): Sen. Specter is said to be a full “yes” on cloture for EFCA.

Check out the video for this Pennsylvanian talking to Sen. Arlen Specter on card check and cap and trade:

Be sure to click on this video of a staffer for Senator Arlen Specter, who was speaking to ministers pushing the Employee Free Choice Act. He claims the timeline for action is upon us.

The chattering class is (again) atwitter with wonder about where Sen. Arlen Specter is on the Employee Free Choice Act. The latest news is that Sen. Specter told labor audiences that they would like his position on the bill. Some interpret that as outright support. We say not so fast.

Shortly before altering his party status, Sen. Specter said he did not believe the time was right, economically speaking, to support EFCA. Little has changed there, as Associated Builders and Contractors members will tell you. And while a Democrat in Pennsylvania needs labor to win a primary race, he/she needs all type of voters in the primary.

So it’s worth noting the latest news:

Pennsylvanians of both political parties oppose the so-called card check legislation pending in Congress that would make it easier for unions to organize, a statewide poll shows.

The poll of 700 registered voters by Susquehanna Polling and Research Inc. found that people oppose card check by a 55-29 percent margin. Forty percent said they strongly oppose the legislation, compared to 15 percent strongly in favor.

Overall, we take the Senator at his word that he will not vote for cloture on EFCA with the current economic situation.

While talks of “compromise” still float around D.C., supporters of the misnamed Employee Free Choice Act are still giving it the ol’ college try. Take for instance news from the Service Employees International Union that 155 academics are urging Sen. Arlen Specter to support EFCA.

That support is not altogether surprising: academics frequently have little to no real-world experience in running successful private-sector businesses or in the ways in which union officials operate. Indeed, many pro-EFCA supporters are claiming that public-sector union organizing has shown card check can work without understanding or disclaiming the vast differences. Meanwhile, actual business owners know EFCA will hurt their businesses.

But support for EFCA reaches its limits at the academic walls. As we noted, just 15 showed up to support EFCA in Fort Wayne, Indiana. The public, while broadly supportive of the academic notion of unions, doesn’t like the reality it comes to stealing secret ballots.

And it’s for those very reasons that EFCA is in trouble. SEIU’s own Andy Stern has said so and now pro-labor academics are acknowledging that card check is a bad idea.

Andy Stern, head of the most influential union in politics, is sticking by card check. He also said of Sen. Arlen Specter: “if he’s red on card check, I couldn’t get my members to vote for him. That’s like being against universal health care.”

We have not yet won this fight so stay active and energized!