Saturday, October 31, 2009

Playing Ball for Organized Labor and EFCA

By all appearances, organized labor is quieting what many considered it's number one priority, the Employee Free Choice Act, in favor of comprehensive health care reform. With the release of the White House guest logs, I was surprised to learn that Andy Stern visited 1600 Penn twenty-two times, which was more than any person whose name was requested. SEIU and Change to Win were vital elements in Obama's coalition that propelled him into the White House. Of course, there's no guarantee that Stern met with the president or any ranking cabinet-level officials. Trumka entered the White House seven times. I would not be surprised to learn that EFCA is still a possibility next year or two after Obama's big ticket agenda items pass.

With that in mind, the AFL-CIO released a snappy flyer with a roster of baseball players who support EFCA. With the title "A Level Playing Field is as Important in the Workplace as it is in Baseball," the advertisement grouped photos and positions of Heath Bell, Dave Bush, LaTroy Hawkins, Torii Hunter, John Lannan, Andrew Miller, J.J. Putz, Jimmy Rollins, Mark Teixeira, Justin Verlander, Shane Victorino and Adam Wainwright to express their support for EFCA.

No comments: