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The latest on the Key Bridge collapse, New York puts forth legislation to get clean energy projects on the grid and Wisconsin and other states join a federal summer food program to help feed kids across the country.

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Republicans float conspiracy theories on the collapse of Baltimore's Key Bridge, South Carolina's congressional elections will use a map ruled unconstitutional, and the Senate schedules an impeachment trial for Homeland Secretary Mayorkas.

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Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Filibuster Busts "Employee Free Choice Act," Unions Regroup

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Wednesday, June 27, 2007   


A bill in Congress to make it easier for New Mexico workers to join a union may be "busted," but union leaders aren't broken, and they're preparing new strategies. The "Employee Free Choice Act" could have made joining a union as simple as signing a card, but a Republican filibuster in the Senate appears to have doomed the bill. Christine Trujillo, president of the New Mexico AFL-CIO, says part of the plan for labor in the state now is to build more bridges.

“[We] try to work pro-actively with employers because we are not the enemy. We are local people who pay taxes in those communities, and we just want union representation.”

Tuesday, supporters of the "Employee Free Choice Act" fell nine votes shy of forcing the Senate to end debate and vote on the bill. Critics called it "undemocratic" because it would eliminate the secret ballot system for unionizing. Union leaders argue the current system is too vulnerable to worker intimidation and the new act would have balanced the playing field.

But there could be a carrot and stick approach in the works...Thomas Montano of the Plumbers and Pipefitters Union Local 412 in Albuquerque points out that the bill may have run out of steam, but the fire is stoked for future political battles.

“What's next is to elect a new, stronger Democratic Congress, whether it be the House of Representatives or the Senate, and get a good Democratic president in there.”



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