AFL-CIO confident of gains

By David M. Dickson (Contact) | Wednesday, November 19, 2008

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NEWSMAKER INTERVIEW:

The government affairs director of the AFL-CIO said he is certain that organized labor's top priority [-] a law that would make it much easier for unions to organize businesses both large and small [-] will pass Congress and be signed by President Barack Obama.

I have no doubt it will pass and will be signed, William Samuel told reporters and editors of The Washington Times. He was referring to the Employee Free Choice Act, which would give workers the right to join a union as soon as a majority of them signed cards requesting union representation.

In a wide-ranging interview Wednesday, Mr. Samuel also said that the more than $300 million spent by labor unions to educate workers was crucial to the Democrats' success in key battleground states such as Ohio and Michigan.

The AFL-CIO, which is a federation of 56 labor unions, will keep its electoral organization in place in many of the 21 states in which it operated in 2008 and use its 250,000 volunteers to serve as a grassroots lobbying network to pressure Congress, Mr. Samuel said.

The AFL-CIO's agenda includes not just the Free Choice Act, also known as card-check, but also a substantial economic stimulus bill, health care reform, expanded family and medical leave and paid sick leave.

In addition, Thea Lee, policy director for the AFL-CIO, said the organization favors looking into implementing a transaction tax on all securities' transactions. This small fee, she said, could finance an insurance fund that could, for example, be used for any future bailouts, if any was needed.

Mr. Samuel expressed concern about the nation's stagnating wages. He said the card-check legislation would help reverse this trend.

Workers haven't recovered from the previous recession, he said. The card-check bill is integral to fixing the economy. If we are going to have a consumer-led recovery, workers are going to have to earn more.

Restoring the right to bargain is a key to fixing the economy, Mr. Samuel added. We've spoken to" Sen. Obama , Mr. Samuel said, and we think he sees it the same way.

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