Columnist | David J. Sanders

Blue dog Democrats oppose card check

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Supporters contend that the current labor law, which requires a secret ballot vote by workers to form a union, is outdated.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.

4 Comments For This Post

  1. SunDog Says:

    Just where in this article did Marion Berry say he would oppose card check? It sounds much more like a typical democrat telling the audience he was in front of what they want to hear.
    Blue dog democrats differ from their yellow kin only in the speed that they take your money and regulate your life. The only defense is to vote them out of office.

  2. norgi Says:

    Arkansas Blue Dog Democrats toe a hard line? Are you serious? Just like they did on that, uh, that, what was that issue they took a stand on? Norgi

  3. Kuni Says:

    We can’t be having Unions. Not after all that work that the Right put into trying to destroy the middle class that Unions helped create.

    After 8 years of policies that almost (and still may) destroy the middle class; we can’t have anything that will bring back prosperity and growth.

    Prosperity leads to more Liberalism; better that we all go down the toilet than that happening.

  4. norgi Says:

    Kuni, good stuff but remember that sarcasm is hard to pick up sometimes. For a minute, I wasn’t sure if you were using sarcasm to make a good point or quoting David “Stephens” Sanders.
    SunDog, you have a good sense of color.

8 Trackbacks For This Post

  1. Marion Berry behind closed doors | Arkansas News Says:

    [...] Columnist David Sanders reports on U.S. Rep. Marion Berry’s private session with Arkansas business bosses. Their demand that workers not be given a level playing field to organize unions apparently is winning approval from Berry and other Democrats of his ilk. [...]

  2. Matthew Yglesias » Centrist Dems Loving Opportunity to Block EFCA, Pretending to Be Upset Says:

    [...] campaign against [EFCA] is also taking its toll on moderate Democrats in the House and Senate, as this Arkansas News column vividly illustrates.” What the column illustrates is that Blue Dogs like Rep. Marion Berry [...]

  3. Stuff from Around Arkansas, February 18 | The Arkansas Project Says:

    [...] in the Cards?: Are Blue Dog Democrats defecting from support for union-backed card check legislation? Columnist David Sanders suggests that all signs point to ‘yes,’ if Rep. Marion [...]

  4. Card Check now in the hands of Blanche Lincoln at The K. Ryan James blog Says:

    [...] I discovered a link to a column written by another friend, David Saunders of Stephens Media’s Arkansas News. According to Mr. Sanders: According to Arkansas opponents of the federal Employee Free Choice Act, [...]

  5. Blue Dogs Try to Stop Card Check - BrianFaughnan’s blog - RedState Says:

    [...] which is likely to wind up even less popular than the ’stimulus’ vote. According to the Arkansas News, the Blue Dogs have told House leadership they don’t want the measure to come up for a vote: [...]

  6. Blue Dogs Waffle on EFCA | Blogging Hope Says:

    [...] News columnist David J. Sanders reports that the Blue Dog Caucus, a 47-member strong moderate/conservative arm of House Democrats, [...]

  7. Broad Brush Issues « Politics or Poppycock Says:

    [...] against [EFCA] is also taking its toll on moderate Democrats in the House and Senate, as this Arkansas News column vividly illustrates.’ What the column illustrates is that Blue Dogs like Rep. Marion Berry [...]

  8. Blue Dogs Waffle on EFCA Says:

    [...] News columnist David J. Sanders reports that the Blue Dog Caucus, a 47-member strong moderate/conservative arm of House Democrats, [...]

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