Voters in four Republican-dominated states passed measures Nov. 2 to ban the “card check” method of unionizing. But the measures may be struck down in the courts, because they encroach on rights protected by the National Labor Relations Act.
Though Republican victories in the 2010 elections will put the union Congressional agenda in jeopardy, labor leaders took some consolation from a pair of election night polls commissioned by the national AFL-CIO.
There was a moment during the 2008 presidential campaign when an American union worker could believe Barack Obama would chart a new course on trade policy. Those hopes have faded.
National AFL-CIO President Rich Trumka, on a Aug. 23-24 visit to Portland, rallied local union activists to stay politically active despite disappointments, and to help elect John Kitzhaber as governor of Oregon.
