Last week, officials at the Oregon AFL-CIO thought they had enough support in the Oregon Senate to pass one of its top priority bills.

SB 519 —The Worker Freedom Act — would have made “captive audience” meetings by employers voluntary for certain topics — including union organizing. In other words, employers could not require employees to come to meetings and listen to their propaganda against unions.

The bill was scheduled for a vote in the Senate May 7.

Democrats control that chamber 18 to 12.

But when the time came to vote, Sherwood Republican Sen. Larry George rose and got a unanimous voice vote to refer the bill to the Rules Committee. That committee is chaired by Democrat Ginny Burdick of Southwest Portland, an open opponent of the bill who has refused even to meet and discusss it with the Oregon AFL-CIO.

Generally, a bill that is sent to Rules at this point in the session is not going to get a vote, the labor federation said.

Union officials were scratching their heads wondering how it got a unanimous vote.

The Oregon AFL-CIO learned from allies in the Senate that the Democratic and Republican leadership supported the referral. Apparently one of the 16 Democrats who’d committed to vote for the bill changed their mind, so the bill didn’t have enough support to pass.

The Oregon AFL-CIO political staff knew Burdick was against it, and that Betsy Johnson, a Democrat from Scappoose, had never committed to vote for it. So they are looking to find which of the other 16 Democrats broke a promise to organized labor.

“We are disappointed in the Democratic leadership for not bringing it to a vote,” said Oregon AFL-CIO spokesperson Elana Guiney. “The working people of Oregon deserve to have a public on-the-record vote so we know who stands with working people and who doesn’t.”

Senate Majority leader Richard Devlin (D-Tualatin) is also on the Rules Committee, and it’s possible that influence could be brought to bear on Burdick to release the bill to the floor for an up-or-down vote.

The Rules Committee stays open until late in the 2009 legislative session, which is headed for wrap-up in late June.

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