Debates over the economic stimulus and health care reform have tied up the labor movement's energy for much of the first year of the Obama administration, sidelining its No. 1 target agenda item, the Employee Free Choice Act. Next year, unions are looking to pass the legislation, which they say would make it easier for workers to join unions and curtail abuses that were ignored under the Bush administration.  more...

The Globe and Mail  A pitched lobbying battle between Big Business and Big Labour over legislation that would make it much easier for workers to organize is shaping up as the first major test of U.S. President Barack Obama's loyalty to the unions who helped elect him. And like the raging debate about reforms to U.S. health care, the Canadian experience has become a rallying cry for business groups that want the proposed legislation stopped in its tracks. At issue is the "card-check" bill, which would mandate automatic recognition of a union once half the members of a work force signed a membership card - a model that Canadian provinces have gradually been moving away from since the 1980s.  more...

The Coalition for a Democratic Workplace today congratulated Bob McDonnell for his hard-fought victory and his effective and consistent voice against the card check issue, arguably making it a determining factor in his decisive win over Creigh Deeds in the Virginia gubernatorial election.   more...

Despite the rhetoric coming from Big Labor and their allies, the strong bi-partisan opposition that the mis-named Employee Free Choice Act faces is still a reality and the appointment of a Massachusetts senator does nothing to change the mathematical, political and policy equation.   more...