WASHINGTON — Senator Arlen Specter, who was the lone Republican to side with Democrats on the Senate’s last vote on union-organizing legislation, announced Tuesday that he would not vote for this session’s bill. þþThe measure, known as the Employee Free Choice Act, would make it far easier to form unions by giving workers the right to unionize as soon as a majority of employees in a workplace signed cards in agreement. It has faced an uphill battle, with business groups generally opposed to any expansion of unions and some opponents contending that the bill would end secret ballots in union elections. þþWith some Democrats expressing ambivalence on the bill, the Democratic sponsors indicated before Mr. Specter’s announcement that they did not have the 60 votes to move it forward. þþMr. Specter, whose re-election campaign next year for his Pennsylvania seat may include a tough primary rematch with Patrick J. Toomey, a conservative former congressman, said Tuesday that his decision was based not on politics but on the poor economic conditions for businesses and the availability of other avenues to expand collective bargaining. þþThe National Republican Senatorial Committee, the party’s election arm, indicated a few weeks ago that it would be hard-pressed to help candidates whose views on this issue were out of sync with the national party.þþIn 2007, Mr. Specter cast the lone Republican vote on a procedural move to advance the bill; that effort fell one vote short of the 60 needed. He said then that he did not support the bill on its merits, but endorsed the need for Congress to revisit labor issues. þþ
Source: NY Times
