Lincoln comes out against EFCA
By The Associated Press
This article was published April 6, 2009 at 2:25 p.m.
U.S. Sen. Blanche Lincoln has said she cannot support the Employee Free Choice Act in its current form.
In a visit Monday with the Political Animals Club, the Democrat from Arkansas said she could not support the EFCA, which is federal legislation aimed at making union organizing easier. Lincoln, who faces re-election in 2010, has been targeted by Republicans over the issue. She'd said previously she was undecided, but that she didn't see the legislation as necessary.
Her tone was more direct Monday.
"I cannot support that bill. I cannot support it in its current form," Lincoln told those gathered for the luncheon at the governor's mansion. "I may not have said that as clearly before, but I'm saying it now."
The bill would dramatically reform labor laws by allowing workers to form unions by simply signing a card or petition, removing an employer's right to demand a secret ballot vote. It also would impose stronger penalties on employers who violate labor laws and allow for arbitration to settle contract disputes.
"It is one of those issues that creates great division, as well as distraction, at a time when we need all hands on deck," Lincoln said. "We have got to have our eyes focused on what we are doing, and I believe that now more than ever before, in terms of this economy and turning our country around."
President Barack Obama has said he's backing the bill.
In 2004, Lincoln earned the rare distinction of being backed by both the Arkansas chapter of the AFL-CIO and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. She said Monday she considers herself a friend of both business and labor.
"Those are the two groups of people we need at the table more than anybody," she said. "We need workers and we need business at the table, if we're going to put this economy back on track, and I don't think the discussion on the Employee Free Choice Act has helped us do that."
Lincoln also said there are other priorities she puts ahead of the EFCA.
"We don't move at breakneck speed in Washington, and when you have something that is that divisive and that distracting - with the little time that we have to do health care reform and energy reform and to start tax reform in the fall, we're going to be doing a tremendous amount of work," she said. "And to stop and do something like that would completely eliminate our ability to focus and spend the kind of time that we need, so I think it's time to move on."
For more information see Tuesday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
