Scott Brown, a Republican, won a Massachusetts Senate seat in a special election on January 19. He heads to Washington, D.C. as the 41st Republican senator, taking away the “filibuster proof” majority of the Democratic Party in the Senate.
What does Brown’s election mean for EFCA and the development of labor law at the NLRB?
Senator-elect Brown’s campaign website contains no specific mention of EFCA. We haven’t found any quotes attributable to Senator-elect Brown about his position on EFCA.. The closest are columns like this one that suggest he will vote against EFCA.
Certainly, the path to EFCA passage is substantially less clear today than it was 36 hours ago. But, EFCA could appear in a number of different contexts, including as part of a different bill. Also, as our post yesterday suggested, many of the goals of EFCA could be achieved through NLRB action. President Obama may renominate Craig Becker to the NLRB, and Mr. Becker is an attorney for SEIU and the AFL-CIO.
What then should you do? Keep focused on the big picture, including the overall approach to union-related issues and to compliance with the NLRA. Sooner or later, President Obama’s nominees to the NLRB will be confirmed and when that happens, the likelihood of change coming to some Bush Board precedent is significant.