This should be good news for progressive types who were worried that Obama is being too centrist. According to Steve Benen at the Washington Monthly:
Mary Beth Maxwell, founding executive director of American Rights at Work, is reportedly being considered for Labor Secretary.
It’s plausible to assume that she shares the objectives of the group she formed. American Rights at Work supports the Employee Free Choice Act. That act has to pass if we’re going to modernize our labor laws. Right now the “right” to organize is a joke, and that’s not just because the all-Bush NLRB Board has systematically interpreted away the right of huge numbers of workers to unionize. Even a sympathetic Board has a difficult time combatting the illegal tactics in which employers routinely engage.
Paul Krugman has written, convincingly, that the increase in economic inequality in this country coincides with the decrease in union power. We need more unions, and we need unions to enter sectors of the workforce in which they presently have little presence.
There will always be stories about union overreaching, ridiculous work rules, etc. But the alternative to strong unions is what we have today: increasing numbers of oligarchs and decreasing numbers of people in the middle class. The Democrats will have 58 or 59 votes in the Senate, counting Loathsome Joe. They should be able to get this act passed. There are going to be at least four or five Republicans who will not want to look like obstructionists. The Democrats should be able, through a mix of threats and rewards, to get those Republicans to help shut off debate and get the Free Choice Act, among other critically needed reforms, passed.
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