Archive for the 'labor' Category

The House of Representatives just passed the Employee Free Choice Act, which I wrote about here.  The bill, which would enable workers to unionize with less fear of employer harassment and intimidation, passed overwhelmingly, 241-185.

Although it faces probable filibuster in the Senate and certain veto by Bush - just as he intends to veto 9/11 legislation because it contains a provision allowing unionization - the passage of the EFCA is nonetheless hugely important.  There's legitimate reason to be frustrated with Congressional Democrats for not moving more decisively on withdrawal from Iraq, but they have moved strongly on workers' rights.  As Nancy Pelosi said during debate on the EFCA

The Employee Free Choice Act is the most important labor law reform legislation of this generation.  But this legislation is about more than labor law: it is about basic labor rights, about the rule of the majority free from intimidation, and about protecting jobs.

It is a guarantee - when a majority of workers say they want a union, they will get a union.

To defeat this, Republicans will have to go on record against workers.  Not against unions, but against the millions of non-union workers in this country who want to join unions.  Democrats are forcing them to lay that contempt for workers bare before the nation, in strong contrast to Democratic respect for workers.  Passage of the EFCA through the House - especially by such a large margin - is an incredible step forward for working people.

Update: There's video from the debate at Nancy Pelosi's blog, but especially see Rep. George Miller's powerful statement.

Update II by kos: Two Dems voted against the bill, 13 Republicans voted for it.

Republicans for the bill:

Can you tell Republicans in New England (the one left in the House), as well as neighboring states New York and New Jersey are feeling their impending extinction? This list includes some of our best pickup opportunities in 2008, so they're probably desperate to negate those "Rep. X voted 98 percent of the time with George Bush" attacks.

Democrats against it:

Cue in "Democrats are divided" story...

Back at the beginning of December, I wrote about deregulation of the trucking industry under the Bush administration.  According to a New York Times article,

In decisions that had the support of the White House, the motor carrier agency has eased the rules on truckers’ work hours, rejected proposals for electronic monitoring to combat widespread cheating on drivers’ logs and resisted calls for more rigorous driver training.

While applauded by the industry, those decisions have been subject to withering criticism by federal appeals court panels in Washington who say they ignore government safety studies and put the industry’s economic interests ahead of public safety.

On Friday they went one step further - the Department of Transportation decided to allow 100 Mexican trucking companies to drive into the U.S.  The Teamsters have been fighting such a program for more than a decade.  While the union has good reason to be concerned about their members and about a possible erosion of working conditions and pay due to the move, they also raise enormously important safety concerns, which are echoed by safety advocates and others.  A House Transportation Committee press release quotes Representatives James Oberstar and Peter DeFazio on this issue:

“It is impossible to know how many hours or days a driver has been behind the wheel of a truck in Mexico, without rest, prior to crossing the border and entering our highways. Anecdotal evidence from news reports suggests that working hours for truck drivers in Mexico go far beyond anyone’s estimate of a safe, reasonable limit,” Oberstar said. “Drug and alcohol testing is another essential element. Without oversight and established controls at collection sites, compliance is very difficult to gauge.“

“Despite the recent agreement to allow U.S. truck safety inspectors into Mexico to conduct safety audits, I am dubious that Mexican trucks or their drivers will meet the same safety and environmental standards as those in the U.S.,” DeFazio said. “Under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), the U.S. has consistently compromised its environmental and labor standards. Now we're being asked to risk the safety of citizens on highways and in communities where these trucks will travel. You can be sure Congress will be keeping a close eye on the implementation of this pilot program.”

As a diary by TeamsterPower explains

Some may call us xenophobic or racist. But it's not about race or bigotry. It's about safety. It's about being able to drive down the road with your family and not have to worry about whether the driver in that 18-wheeler in the next lane has slept in the past 20 hours. It's about whether that truck is safe to operate at 65 or 70 miles an hour. It's about whether you can trust anything the Bush administration and Mexican government says.

Just as DeFazio is promising oversight of this program from the House, Patty Murray will be holding hearings in the Senate, from her role as chair of the Appropriations Committee Subcommittee on Transportation.  If you are represented by a member of the House Transportation Committee or the Senate Subcommittee on Transportation, consider contacting them and urging that they follow through on these oversight plans.