It’s looking less and less likely that the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) will be among President-elect Obama’s 100-day priorities.  Here’s the latest from the Wall Street Journal.

Business groups believe that support is weakening for EFCA and that it would be blocked by a Senate filibuster as it was in 2007.  The AFL-CIO disagrees.  ”We’re very close to having a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate,” a spokesperson said.

Instead of pursuing EFCA, it appears that Congress may pursue less controversial labor issues, including:

• the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which would lengthen the statute of limitations for unfair pay lawsuits; and
• the Paycheck Fairness Act, which would bolster Equal Pay Act remedies avaialble to female employees.

Congress could consider both of the above as early as today.  Business groups oppose both measures, arguing that they will result in frivolous suits and increased legal fees.  Of course, they don’t oppose them quite as vehemently as they do EFCA.

Stay tuned for more.

This entry was posted on Thursday, January 8th, 2009 at 9:29 am and is filed under EFCA, Employee Free Choice Act, Employment Law News, Unions. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.