WSJ: Obama Pick Marks a Victory for Labor Unions

[Omaha Steve]

http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2009/04/24/obama-pick-marks-a-victory-for-labor-unions/

April 24, 2009, 2:05 PM ET

Brody Mullins reports on politics.

Labor unions scored a victory today when the President Barack Obama named a top labor advocate to serve in a key position in the Labor Department. Mary Beth Maxwell will join the administration as senior advisor after serving for years as the executive director of the labor coalition American Rights at Work. In the administration, Maxwell will work with the White House Task Force on Middle Class and Working Families, a group that is working to improve the lives and jobs of workers.

Maxwell will be replaced by the organization’s current board chairman David Bonior and deputy director Kimberly Freeman. American Rights at Work is the leading labor coalition pushing Congress to enact the Employee Free Choice Act, a measure that would make it easier for workers to join labor unions. The legislation suffered a setback earlier this year when several senators who voted for it in the past reversed course and said they would oppose it this year. However, labor believes that it can still prevail. Support for the legislation “is as strong as ever,” said Bonior, a former senior House Democrat.

Although Maxwell had spent much of her time advocating for the Employee Free Choice Act, she was not a registered lobbyist. Therefore, she was not precluded from serving in the administration by Mr. Obama’s tough anti-lobbyist employment policy. Those rules have caused concern among lobbyist for corporations and nonprofits alike who have been disqualified from working for the Obama administration. Much of the work of American Rights at Work involved television advertisements. The group retains one registered lobbyist.

Labor opponents called Maxwell’s appointment “unfortunate.” Justin Wilson, the managing director of the industry-backed Center for Union Facts said this is the “latest example of the outsized influence labor leaders hold over President Obama and the Department of Labor.”

[Deja Q]

1. Did you post this in GD and/or GD:P?

If not, would you? :)

[dcsmart]

2. well, that is good news...K & R

i hope it makes a difference and strengthens labor's voice in the White House