Wednesday was a difficult day for The American Independent News Network, which is the larger entity that operates The Iowa Independent. Our chief executive and founder announced two of our sister sites would close and their content would be moved to The American Independent.
A recently introduced bill could have far-reaching impact on the U.S. sugar industry, including American Crystal Sugar, a farmer-owned cooperative that locked out 1,300 Midwest workers on Aug. 1.
The chairman for Herman Cain’s Iowa effort says the campaign “relied more on the word of farmers than Washington regulators” in deciding to run an ad containing claims the Environmental Protection Agency says are false.
The Iowa Senate will remain under the control of a slim 26-25 Democratic majority when it reconvenes in January 2012.
President Barack Obama made several statements regarding job creation and trade agreements during his State of the Union Wednesday that were pleasing to organized labor, but not once mentioned the Employee Free Choice Act, better known as card check.
The legislation would take direct aim at workplace union elections, which has been a key area of concern for organized labor.
U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa (Lauren Victoria Burke/WDCPIX.COM)
U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin, an Iowa Democrat, leads the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, and admits that, despite work over the past year on the bill, its future remains uncertain.
“Well, it is still under consideration,” Harkin said Thursday during a conference call with reporters. “We’ve been working all last year to try to reach some agreement on a modified version of it that would be acceptable. I think we came pretty close to that, but now with this vote in Massachusetts … we just don’t know.”
The proposed bill would require organizers to gather signatures on union cards, and unionization of a workplace would occur when and if the necessary number of signatures had been reached. Those who advocate for the change note that the existing balloting process allows opportunity for company leaders, who are often against organized labor, to apply undue pressure on workers who have petitioned for the vote to commence. By keeping the process open and transparent through card signatures, organizers believe the opportunity to influence the actual election outcome will be reduced.
Those who oppose the change argue that by not having a balloting process, union organizers will be given an upper hand in the process and also that workers should be able to indicate their choice privately on an unsigned ballot.
The issue has become one of survival for organized labor, which saw overall membership fall an additional 12.3 percent in 2009, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. In the private sector alone, membership dipped 10 percent. The issue is key for Democrats not only because of their long-touted support of working class Americans, but also because they receive significant campaign funding and election support from unions and their membership.
Harkin is not yet willing to say exactly how such reforms garnered through bipartisan compromise might look, but he is adamant that the process governing unionizing needs to be addressed and changed.
“Let me put it this way, something has to be done to change the laws regarding the way we conduct union elections, how they are conducted. We’re looking at some proposals to do that. While it may not be card check as we know it, it will definitely be a change in the way we conduct elections,” he said.
When asked if such a compromise could be struck this year, Harkin wasn’t overly optimistic.
“[It's] possible that sometime this spring, before summer, we may see something like that — but it’s just a possibility. I’m not sure,” he said.
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