Reuters FEATURE-Chicago union win on tour to rally for U.S. labor law

[Omaha Steve]

http://uk.reuters.com/article/privateEquity/idUKN1032887520090301

Sun Mar 1, 2009 8:21pm GMT

By Nick Carey

DETROIT, March 1 (Reuters) - A December sit-in at a closed factory in Chicago made national headlines for the workers at Republic Windows & Doors when they won severance and health care from the shuttered company's lenders.

Among those speaking in support of their cause was the new U.S. President-elect Barack Obama, a former Chicago community organizer. Now the workers have taken to the road to rouse other blue-collar workers to organize for a bigger battle.

As U.S. unions and business groups gear up for an epic fight over the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), unions claim the refusal of the Republic workers to back down can inspire the best chance in decades of winning more rights for other workers.

The EFCA -- which would allow workers to form unions by simply signing a card rather than having a secret vote -- was approved by the U.S. House of Representatives in March 2007. But Republican opposition prevented it from coming up for a vote in the U.S. Senate.

The law -- sponsored by many lawmakers, including Obama -- is anathema to corporate America. It will face a stiff filibuster test in the U.S. Senate, where Democrats need at least 60 votes to bring it to Obama's desk for signing.

That's the barrier Republic workers are attacking.

FULL 3 page story at link.