Becker favors the ‘‘card check’’ bill, which would make it far easier for unions to organize workers.
By Lisa Wangsness and Susan Milligan, Globe Staff | February 4, 2010
WASHINGTON—By being sworn in today, a week earlier than planned, Senator-elect Scott Brown has put himself in a position to help fellow Republicans scuttle a hotly disputed Obama administration nomination to the National Labor Relations Board next week.
A vote to appoint the prominent union lawyer, Craig Becker, appears to be the only one in coming days in which Brown’s early arrival could make a crucial difference by giving Republicans their 41st vote in the Senate, allowing them to deploy the fili buster to block the nomination.
Brown may also face a vote on a jobs bill next week, but that vote is likely to draw support from both sides of the aisle and is not expected to be strongly contested by the GOP.
Brown, who enjoyed heavy rank-and-file union support in his upset election Jan. 19, declined a request for an interview yesterday, and a top adviser said he had not decided how to vote on the nomination of Becker to the board, which brokers disputes between unions and employers.
Brown has said he intends to buck Senate Republican leaders on some issues and work with Democrats toward common-sense compromises. Yet Brown is likely to begin his Senate career with a highly partisan vote — one he could have avoided if he had stuck to the original plan of taking office Feb. 11.
‘‘Everyone in the Senate would like to see Scott Brown seated as quickly as possible, because he was elected by the people of Massachusetts to represent them and his vote counts,’’ said Senator Orrin G. Hatch, Republican of Utah. ‘‘When we consider a potential vote on a controversial nominee like Craig Becker, Scott Brown could be the deciding vote.’’
Thursday, January 28, 2010
By Joe Schoffstall
Andy Stern, president of the Service Employees International Union, took a swipe at Sens. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) and Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) Tuesday, calling the senators “terrorists” for their opposition to the card-check bill, which Democrats call the Employee Free Choice Act.
“There are a lot of terrorists in the Senate who think we are supposed to negotiate with them when they have their particular needs that they want met,” Stern told Bloomberg News. His comments, which appeared in BusinessWeek magazine, apparently were prompted by the senators’ reluctance to support the union-sponsored bill.
Katie Packer, executive director of the Workforce Fairness Institute, which opposes the card-check legislation, roundly criticized Stern over the comments.
“My first reaction after hearing Andy Stern’s comments comparing the senators to ‘terrorists’ was that I was initially speechless,” Packer told CNSNews.com. “It’s unthinkable the images evoked in my head when I think of the word. To accuse someone in the Senate of being a ‘terrorist’ for sticking up for their constituents is unbelievable.”
Packer added: “Mr. Stern ought to lose his job over these comments, and at minimum he should lose his access to the West Wing,” referring to the release of the first visitor log by the White House, which, ironically, listed Andy Stern as the most frequent visitor.
Packer added: “I’m surprised this hasn’t received much media attention. Could you imagine if this were someone on the other side of the aisle who made these statements? The media would be all over it.”
