Big Labor: We Need Franken for ‘Card-Check’

ABC News’ Rick Klein reports: One of the most prominent labor leaders in Washington today expressed confidence that supporters of the Employee Free Choice Act would get the Senate support they need to pass their top priority for the year. But Anna Burger, the SEIU’s secretary-treasurer and chair of the group Change to Win, conceded that labor leaders still need resolution of the Minnesota Senate race — and maybe a little more lobbying to secure the votes of wavering Democrats, plus a Republican or two. Asked if the so-called “card-check” bill would get 60 votes if it came the Senate floor today, Burger said on ABC NewsNOW’s “Politics Live”: “Well, I actually think that the vote won’t come up today. Al Franken’s gonna be seated and I believe that we’ll have 60 votes and we’ll pass this bill.” Asked if that means the bill can’t pass without Franken in place, she responded: “Well, I think that he gets us to 60, but I also think that we have an opportunity to be out there making sure we’re reaching out to Republicans as well to get them to understand that passing the Employee Free Choice Act is good for America, and we think that we can pick up some of them as well.” Amid a fierce lobbying battle in Washington and beyond — including spin on who has what votes in place — Burger conceded that the bill’s opponents have gotten a bit of a jump on framing the message war. We pointed out that a number of moderate Democrats have said they’re not certain they’ll support the legislation, which makes it far easier for workers to unionize. “Well, I think that we actually will have united [Democratic] support when the day . . . when the vote happens,” she said, “but the reality is, the same corporations, the same CEOs, the same Chamber of Commerce that has been out there attacking every single thing that’s been good for America workers — the minimum wage, health care for kids, family medical leave — have been out there waging a whole assault and a campaign against all the senators about why they should be against the Employee Free Choice Act.” As for the messaging: “The reality is, having workers have a union, share in the prosperity of our country . . . it’s good for our families, it’s good for our economy, and we need to do it quickly.” Opponents “have hundreds of millions of dollars to confuse the issue, but we have hundreds of millions of members across this country, and workers who want to have a voice on the job, and they’re going to make sure that their members of Congress understand that they need to vote for the Employee Free Choice Act,” Burger said. And will President Obama play an active role? “He already is. He said that unions are part of the solution. We need a strong labor movement. Workers needs to have a voice on the job to recreate economic growth in this country. He said, when the workers want to have a union, they should be able to have it. It’s as simple as that.”