We already have Blue Dog Dem Dan Boren confirming on the record that he'll vote against the Employee Free Choice Act.
And now we have a second. Mississippi Dem Rep. Travis Childers' office just confirmed to me that he will vote against the measure, which is designed to make it easier for unions to organize and is far and away labor's top priority.
Childers — also a Blue Dog — explained his thinking in a statement to his local paper:"I plan to vote against the current card check bill. In these uncertain times, I'm very concerned that a wide range of small business leaders believe this will hurt job creation and economic development efforts in our region. There may be parts of the country where this measure will not have the same impact it will have here in north Mississippi, but my job is to put the 1st Congressional District first."
Childers' office confirms that he stands by the statement.
This is rich. Childers won in a special election last spring, he captured a seat previously held by a Republican and his victory was viewed as a fresh start for the Democrats in the Deep South.
Maybe not.
UPDATE March 19: Mississippi Majority has a lot more on Childers.
Related posts:
Study: Card check will cost jobs
Card check update: "A mortal threat to American freedom"
Blagojevich and union "card check"
Card check bill a minefield
Employee "free choice" may drive economic uncertainty
CBS refuses to air ad denouncing union "card check"
Technorati tags: Mississippi news Democrats politics election labor unions card check
The funny thing is that in 08 labor was backing Childers, and even said he supports EFCA. They gave him a lot of money and volunteers, can't imagine there too happy.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I wanted to point out that Gene Taylor (D-MS) is also against EFCA.