Lindsey Graham attempting to slip anti-worker language into omnibus bill

(Jonathan Ernst/Reuters)

Never underestimate the Republican will to do big business a favor, especially if it involves stripping protections from workers at the same time. I previously said that the House bill Democrats have labeled the Outsourcers' Bill of Rights wasn't going to become law, because Harry Reid wouldn't introduce it in the Senate. Well, trust Republicans to find a way!

During a Wednesday Appropriations Committee hearing, the South Carolina senator [Lindsey Graham] will attempt to add language to a bill funding the NLRB that would stop the suit against Boeing dead in its attracts, according to a report in Politico.

Normally senators can move to strip out unwanted riders when bills reach the floor, but with so little time left on the legislative calendar this year, individual appropriations aren't expected to reach the floor, and the Senate will be forced to consider one massive omnibus spending bill chock full of riders.

But Democrats control the Senate, so they should be able to stop it in committee, right? About that:

Sen. Mark Pryor (D-Ark.), a member of the panel, told POLITICO that he is now ?leaning toward? the GOP amendment but had yet to make a firm commitment. Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.), a second member and often a swing vote for Republicans, insisted he had no firm opinion on the issue. ?It is a case of new impressions,? Nelson said.

Yes, indeed, the power of the National Labor Relations Board to remedy abuses by employers lies in the hands of Mark Pryor and Ben Nelson.

12:45 PM PT: The AFL-CIO is lobbying hard against Graham's bill:

"If the Graham Amendment were to become law, it would be the first time since the passage of the Taft Hartley Act more than 60 years ago that Congress voted to curb the NLRB's ability to protect working people, their rights and their jobs -- all to protect one corporation," William Samuel, director of the AFL-CIO's Government Affairs Department, wrote in a letter to senators sent Wednesday afternoon.

Source: http://feeds.dailykos.com/~r/dailykos/index/~3/PEQ373i-gtg/-Lindsey-Graham-attempting-to-slip-anti-worker-language-into-omnibus-bill

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