Unions seek new ally: the law

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.oregonlive.com/business/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/business/11788900037310.xml&coll=7&thispage=1

Unions seek new ally: the law
As labor leaders push for legislation to reverse declines, a firing at a Portland company sparks a walkout by workers who signed union pledge cards in a new organizing tactic
Friday, May 11, 2007
BRENT HUNSBERGER

Union organizers say they entered a Mexican food distributor's offices late last week with fistfuls of cards signed by 29 of 36 workers pledging to organize.

Three days later, Marquez Brothers Northwest Inc. fired its lead account specialist, Jose Campos, organizers say.

Thursday morning, two dozen workers walked off the job, leaving loads of food on the docks in Northeast Portland. They claimed Marquez illegally fired Campos for his pro-union stand and refused to recognize their wish to unionize. Company officials declined to comment.

The skirmish, a blip on the labor front, illustrated how unions are increasingly abandoning the federal election union-forming process for the so-called card-check method.

Now, they're going a step further. Energized by Democrats' control of Congress and the Oregon Legislature, labor leaders are pushing for laws that would make card checks the norm, curb union-busting tactics and, they hope, reverse their declines.

Although President Bush stands in the way at the national level, a handful of pro-union measures in Oregon have better chances of passing, mostly because Gov. Ted Kulongoski supports them.

FULL story at link.