Senate to vote on measure to nullify union rules

WASHINGTON (AP) — Sen­ate Repub­li­cans are try­ing an unusual tac­tic to nul­lify new labor reg­u­la­tions that would speed up the time frame for unions to hold work­place elections.

The Sen­ate will vote Tues­day on a rarely invoked mea­sure, known as a res­o­lu­tion of dis­ap­proval, to over­turn rules approved last year by the National Labor Rela­tions Board.

Though the mea­sure has lit­tle chance of pas­sage — it also faces a White House veto threat — the vote forces Democ­rats in tough elec­tions to take a stand on rules that have won praise from unions and sharp rebukes from busi­ness groups.

The rules sim­plify pro­ce­dures and reduce legal delays that can hold up union elec­tions after employ­ees at a work site gather enough sig­na­tures to hold a union­iza­tion vote. They are set to take effect on April 30.

Unions call the changes a mod­est fix that would limit cor­po­rate stalling tac­tics, where lit­i­ga­tion can delay elec­tions while work­ers are can be sub­ject to harass­ment, threats and even ille­gal firing.

Dur­ing debate Mon­day, Repub­li­cans claimed the new rules would lead to “ambush” elec­tions that barely leave com­pany man­agers enough time to respond or coun­sel against form­ing a union.

“The NLRB has cho­sen to impose new rules to aid big labor at the expense of employ­ees, small busi­ness employ­ers and the jobs they would cre­ate,” said Sen. Mike Enzi of Wyoming, top Repub­li­can on the Sen­ate Health, Edu­ca­tion, Labor and Pen­sions Committee.

Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, called the vote “the lat­est chap­ter in an unprece­dented Repub­li­can assault on unions.” Harkin, who chairs the Sen­ate com­mit­tee over­see­ing labor, said employ­ers “have ample oppor­tu­nity to express their views” on unions.

Busi­ness groups includ­ing the U.S. Cham­ber of Com­merce and the National Asso­ci­a­tion of Man­u­fac­tur­ers have des­ig­nated the vote a “key vote” — used to score mem­bers of Con­gress each year on their records. The AFL-CIO has also aggres­sively lob­bied law­mak­ers to vote against the measure.

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Arti­cle Source: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_SENATE_UNION_ELECTIONS?SITE=WABEL&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT