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11/11/2008

Forbes.com: What Unions Really Want: A Stimulus Bill

Columbus partner Mike Asensio, who practices exclusively in the area of Management Labor and Employment Law, was quoted in a November 11 Forbes.com article, "What Unions Really Want: A Stimulus Bill."

According to the article, while organized labor's big issues—health care reform and legislation that would make it easier for unions to organize—have grabbed media attention recently, the more immediate priority for many labor unions is Congress' passage of a sweeping fiscal stimulus package.

There's a theory, according to the article, that Congress and the new administration will address some of the fiscal issues, putting aside for a while the most controversial items—health care reform and the Employee Free Choice Act, the bill that would make it easier for unions to organize. Others believe, however, that the union organizing bill will be front and center on the legislative agenda.

"Labor's eggs are all in one basket," said Asensio, of the bill. However, the measure, also known as "card check" because it would allow unions to organize by workers' signing union cards instead of voting in a secret ballot election, provokes stark opposition from business groups.