As the 110th Congress winds down, it is not surprising a number
of labor-related issues remain unresolved after two years of
tension between a Democratic majority in Congress and a Republican
administration. As such, labor issues are likely to be high on the
legislative agenda when a new Congress convenes in 2009.
Organized labor, led by the AFL-CIO, entered 2007 with high
hopes for achieving several legislative priorities given the
Democratic takeover of Congress during the 2006 elections. However,
this optimism quickly was tempered by the reality that a razor-thin
majority of Democrats in the Senate is not sufficient to pass
legislation, especially with President Bush standing by with his
veto pen.
Labor unions now are placing a large bet that electing Sen.
Barack Obama (D-Ill.) as the next U.S. president and adding more
Democrats in Congress—particularly in the Senate—will
result in passage of their top priorities during the next two
years.
Organized labor has several labor-related proposals on its wish
list, all of which currently have strong support in the House of
Representatives but have been stalled by Republican...
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