Contract security guard companies can breathe a bit easier; the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) seems to be near dead in the water, now that the Democrats lost their 60-vote majority in the Senate. In addition, the loss of a potential appointee to the National Labor Relations Board this week occurred when Republicans blocked the appointment of President Obama’s nominee Craig Becker.
The Senate’s inability to pass EFCA is a blow to unions, particularly the SEIU. Democratic senators had worked up a compromise proposal that would have scrapped the “card check” process, allowing unions to organize without a secret ballot, but expediting the election process – thus eliminating employers’ ability to delay the unionizing process and increasing the penalties for violating the rules that govern election conduct.
This compromise had the potential of gaining all 60 Democratic votes, but the special Senate election in Massachusetts changed the political landscape overnight. Unions expended over $300 million during the 2008 elections on Democrats’ behalf, only to see their requests for a 2009 vote on the EFCA and confirmation votes on NLRB appointees delayed by the President and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, who opted for health reform to be passed first. Now labor appears to lack the votes for EFCA passage is a fortuitous result for contract security companies and large corporate clients of investigative and security professionals.
Bruce Hulme, Director of Government Affairs
Investigative & Security Professionals for Legislative Action
www.ISPLA.org
February 10, 2010