Monday, December 08, 2008

Obama's Bait and Switch on the Employee Free Choice Act

Is Obama Backing Off a Crucial Pledge to Labor?
December 8, 2008.

By STEVE EARLY

It’s only been a month since hundreds of thousands of union members and their families helped Barack Obama win key “battleground states.” Yet, already, some labor supporters of the president-elect fear he may be backing away from a key campaign promise to workers threatened by recession.

While running for office, Obama said he strongly backed the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), a long overdue labor law reform measure that should be part of his promised economic stimulus plan. However, when Obama introduced his top economic advisors on Nov. 25 and talked about steps to “jolt” the economy in January, EFCA was not part of the package. More disturbingly, his new chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, declined to say whether the White House would support EFCA when he was questioned about it at a Wall Street Journal-sponsored “CEO Forum” earlier in November.

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