• AFL-CIO
  confident of gains [Washington Times]
  The
  government affairs director of the AFL-CIO said he is certain that organized
  labor’s top priority – a law that would make it much easier for unions to
  organize businesses both large and small – will pass Congress and be signed by
  President Barack Obama.

• Emanuel
  treads lightly on union bill during CEO gathering [Raw Story]
  Incoming
  White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel tread lightly before a room full of CEOs
  when the subject turned to a union organizing bill that President-elect Barack
  Obama championed on the campaign trail.

• Employment
  Law: The Shifting Legal Landscape [Human Resource Executive Online]
  The
  2009 agenda for HR professionals must assume EFCA in some form will become law.
  In anticipation, employers should consider auditing conditions to determine
  whether they would support an organizing drive; monitoring union-organizing
  activities within the industry or geographical location; training management
  about rules associated with union organizing, potentially providing employees
  with information and arguments about union representation when organizing
  activity is anticipated and — in some highly targeted industries — even before
  receiving evidence of organizing activity; and, most of all, reviewing overall
  employment conditions to ensure they are competitive and the needs of employees
  are being addressed.

• The
  Employee Free Choice Act: What’s At Stake [Progress Illinois]
  In
  1980, the United Labor Unions set out to organize employees at Detroit fast food
  chains in the hopes of sparking a nationwide movement to unionize the workforce
  in this fast-growing industry.  As a rookie organizer working on the campaign, I
  learned firsthand what is at stake when workers stand up for better wages,
  healthcare, and a voice on the job.

• Opinion:
  Barack, attack labor abuses: Obama must crack down on wage theft [New York Daily
  News]
  As
  the nation slumps into recession, one of President-elect Barack Obama’s key
  cabinet picks – one that could help millions of struggling Americans get on
  their feet economically – will be the choice for secretary of
  labor.

• Column:
  The Tear-Down [Huffington Post]
  I
  guess they must prefer the Wal-Mart model, where full-time workers (and Wal-Mart
  defines “full-time” as 34 hours per week) make just $19,200 annually. Of course
  it is their privilege to believe that a low-wage economy is the right path for
  21st-century America. But then let’s hear no more from them about bottom-up
  economic stimulus. There is no real bottom-up approach that even begins to
  compare with strengthening, not destroying, workers’ bargaining
  power.

• Letter:
  Wal-Mart, GE don’t want union to protect workers [Kennebec Journal (Maine)]
  There
  is a lot of garbage being put out by Wal-Mart and GE, to name two, that puts
  down unions. The only reason Wal-Mart and GE spread those things is because
  workers would be paid more with more ability to guide their own future under a
  union contract.