Organized Labor to Make Comeback?

It’s been a long time since organized labor has had much to crow about. Nothing has stopped union membership’s long decline. With Barack Obama’s election and a new Congress having many more Democrats than in recent years, many have believed that happy days are here again for unions.

The Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), making it easier for unions to organize, will now have an advocate in the White House. Hilda Solis, nominated to be the new Secretary of Labor, also supports the EFCA and is openly pro-union. One of the biggest union victories in years occurred last month when the United Food and Commercial Workers successfully organized 5,000 workers at the Smithfield Foods pork processing plant in North Carolina, the least unionized state in the country.

There’s no doubt that organized labor is in its best political position in recent memory. That doesn’t necessarily mean smooth sailing, however. The economic collapse has given pro-business groups new ammunition for fighting the EFCA, and these groups are firing away. At present, it seems likely that the Republicans have enough votes in the Senate to prevent the EFCA’s passage.

The AFL-CIO is trying to reunite with the unions that broke away in 2005. But the principal breakaway union that’s become the fastest growing union, the Service Employees International Union, is now in the middle of a power struggle and charges of corruption involving, in part, the just-impeached Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich. The SEIU’s troubles are now being used by pro-business groups to stem organized labor’s resurgence.

Whether the labor movement will make a comeback is still an open question. What happens when the EFCA is brought up in Congress for a vote will provide the first answer. Labor and employment law is in for an interesting, perhaps chaotic year. Hold on to your hats.