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Three individuals with a strong union background have been appointed to key positions
Washington (4 May 2009) – President Barack Obama’s decision to appoint three veterans of the American labour movement for crucial posts signals a strong, if expected, shift to a friendly administration on labour issues from the anti-union era of George W. Bush.
Obama named Mary Beth Maxwell, a founder of the card-check-advocacy group American Rights at Work, as a senior adviser at the Labour Department. Maxwell’s appointment is a boost for the Employee Free Choice Act, the bill that would make it easier for workers to form unions. Maxwell will work with the White House Task Force on Middle Class Working Families. She was one of the key speakers at an International Symposium on Labour Rights are Human Rights in Ottawa last November. The National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE) was one of the sponsors of the Symposium.
Obama also nominated two veteran labour lawyers to the National Labor Relations Board. The five-member panel has been operating with just two members since late 2007, resulting in a massive backlog of cases of disputes between workers and management.
Nominee Craig Becker is currently associate general counsel for the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and the AFL-CIO, and a longtime law professor. Mark Pearce is a career labor lawyer in private practice.
If confirmed by the Senate, they will join Wilma Liebman, whom Obama appointed as chairman in January, as Democratic appointees to the panel. The panel currently has one Republican appointee and one vacancy.
AFL-CIO President John Sweeney said Becker and Pearce “understand the importance of workers’ rights, collective bargaining and the need to restore balance to the National Labor Relations Board.”
Josh Goldstein, spokesman for American Rights at Work, said Maxwell’s appointment is “a great success for the campaign to have someone like her at the highest level.”
The Employee Free Choice Act is the one of the few pro-union pieces of legislation introduced in the United States in over half a century and is expected to be passed later this year, despite growing opposition from employer groups.
The bill would allow workers to form unions if the majority of employees sign a card of support rather than voting by secret ballot. Unions say the law is needed because management drags out the election process and intimidates workers.
NUPGE
The National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE) is one of Canada's largest labour organizations with over 340,000 members. Our mission is to improve the lives of working families and to build a stronger Canada by ensuring our common wealth is used for the common good. NUPGE