The House just passed the Employee Free Choice Act (.pdf summary). The vote was 230-195, with eight members not voting. The act is basically a pro-union bill that makes it easier for workers to unionize and punishes companies that interfere in efforts to unionize. It’s a strong bill. What I find somewhat surprising is that there was only ONE Republican in the entire House that voted for it. That was John McHugh from New York’s 23rd District. Not a single Democrat voted against the bill.
It will now move to the Senate where it will probably face a filibuster. It could conceivably get support from a couple of Republicans, but nowhere near the eleven nine (or twelve ten, because of Tim Johnson’s illness) that would be needed for cloture. And it is certain that Bush would veto the bill if it somehow reached his desk.
It doesn’t surprise me the Republicans are opposed to strengthening unions. But I wonder if there has ever been this kind of anti-labor unanimity before in the GOP? This is a vote that we will be able to bring back up in 2008 in a lot of House races.
