Unions Breathe Easier After GOP Assault On NLRB Fails

[Omaha Steve]

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/09/unions-breathe-easier-after-assault-on-nlrb-fails.php

Susan Crabtree | September 21, 2011, 11:48PM


Richard Trumka, President of the AFL-CIO

The AFL-CIO and organized labor in general is breathing a sigh of relief after the Senate Appropriations Committee narrowly defeated -- in a tie vote Wednesday night -- an effort to gut the National Labor Relations Board and prevent it from filing suits against companies that move operations to right-to-work states.

After a furious last-minute AFL-CIO lobbying spree, the Senate Committee, which is split 16 to 15 Democratic voted 15 to 15 to defeat language from being attached to a bill funding the NLRB, as well as the Labor and Health and Human Services Departments.

Sen Lindsey Graham (R-SC), motivated by an attempt to help Boeing, managed to convince Sen. Mark Pryor (D-AR) to support his efforts to add the anti-NLRB language to the larger spending bill, but in the end, a wavering Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE) stuck with the Democratic party line and voted no. A tie vote in committee prevents language from being added.

Graham has been leading the charge against the NLRB ever since the agency slapped Boeing with a suit earlier this year charging the defense giant with illegally retaliating against union workers in Washington state by moving a factory to South Carolina, a right-to-work state.

FULL story at link.

[rpannier]

1. Nelson voted No

I am surprised -- pleasantly surprised