By David J. Sanders

According to Arkansas opponents of the federal Employee Free Choice Act, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi may have a tough time getting moderate Blue Dog Democrats to support the union-backed legislation more commonly known as card check.

If passed, the legislation would allow union officials to bypass existing laws governing the process of how and when a union can be established, and allow them to set up a union by simply obtaining signatures from a majority of workers on authorization cards.

Supporters contend that the current labor law, which requires a secret ballot vote by workers to form a union, is outdated. Opponents counter that changing the law would open the door for union officials to coerce workers into signing the cards and, in turn, lead to mass unionization of the country’s businesses and industries.

Last week, at the Arkansas State Chamber of Commerce headquarters, chamber officials briefed nearly 100 members of a coalition opposing card check about their efforts to lobby members of Arkansas congressional delegation.

According to individuals who attended the meeting, they were encouraged by what they heard, especially what was relayed to them regarding conversations between chamber officials and 1st District Congressman Marion Berry, a Democrat.

An official informed the group that Berry recently had told him that he thought the bill was a piece of junk and that he only voted for it because he knew then-President Bush would veto it.

The official then told the group that Berry recounted to him a recent discussion the Blue Dogs had with House Democratic leadership. According to Berry, the Blue Dogs told House leadership that card check wasn’t a free vote for them anymore and that their constituents were giving them a lot of grief over the issue.

The Blue Dogs strongly urged House leadership not to bring this bill back up on the House floor until the Senate had passed something first, because they look like idiots for continuing to pass it and then it dying in the Senate.

The official claimed that Berry had ensured him that this time around, the business community had stepped up its game and he was hearing from a lot of people in his district about how bad this bill really was.

I contacted Berry’s office last week and asked his press secretary to verify the congressman’s conversations with state chamber officials. Tuesday, Berry’s office responded saying the congressman doesn’t discuss conversations about private meetings with Arkansans.

As for his public stance on card check, Berry’s position is more conciliatory — no mention of the legislation being bad or any assertion that he voted for it twice only because he knew Bush would veto it. According to Berry spokeswoman Angela Guyadeen, the congressman believes the Senate, which “has not shown an interest in addressing the issue” to date, “should consider the legislation first.”

I also visited Monday with Randy Zook, President of the Arkansas Chamber, and asked him to recount what was said at last week’s meeting about Berry.

When I told him that several coalition members who were in attendance confirmed what was said, Zook turned coy and said he didn’t want to comment directly to the press about conversations he or others with his organization had had with Berry. But Zook said he was encouraged by the chamber’s lobbying of the Arkansas delegation. He claimed their efforts were paying off and added that he hasn’t seen the business community this unified around a single issue in decades.

Perhaps he’s right. Business groups nationwide are turning up the heat on Congress.

Last year the bill had 230 original co-sponsors in the House, including a few Republican backers who hailed from states dominated by unions. Supporters picked up three additional co-sponsors before being passed.

The bill had 46 co-sponsors in the Senate.

Even though the bill has not been introduced yet, according to reports there are only 202 current co-sponsors in the House and 38 in the Senate. The numbers show that Democrats who supported card check in the past could very well be experiencing some angst this time around.

If Berry and his fellow Blue Dogs insist on toeing a hard line on card check, then Speaker Pelosi and the unions have their work cut out for them.
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David Sanders writes twice weekly for the Arkansas News Bureau in Little Rock and is the host of Arkansas Education Television Network’s “Unconventional Wisdom.” His e-mail address is DavidJSanders@aol.com.