Chris Cillizza reports:
Specter Signals Change on Labor Vote: With a rewritten Employee Free Choice Act likely to be introduced in Congress within the next month, Pennsylvania Democratic Sen. Arlen Specter is signaling he is likely to back the legislation -- a major priority of the labor community. "I believe you'll be satisfied with my vote on this issue," Specter told a group of union activists in Pittsburgh over the weekend, according to a story on the Allentown Morning Call's blog.
When Specter announced his opposition to EFCA in March, he came out against both the card-check and binding arbitration provisions:
On the merits, the issue which has emerged at the top of the list for me is the elimination of the secret ballot which is the cornerstone of how contests are decided in a democratic society. The bill's requirement for compulsory arbitration if an agreement is not reached within 120 days may subject the employer to a deal he or she cannot live with. Such arbitration runs contrary to the basic tenet of the Wagner Act for collective bargaining which makes the employer liable only for a deal he or she agrees to. The arbitration provision could be substantially improved by the last best offer procedure which would limit the arbitrator's discretion and prompt the parties to move to more reasonable positions
I'd be surprised if a watered-down EFCA bill didn't include some sort of binding arbitration provision, so be prepared for another unsurprisingly shameless Specter flip-flop.
