With the Senate health committee ready to start holding hearings on the Employee Free Choice Act next week, Oklahoma Blue Dog Dan Boren became the first Democrat to publicly say he'd oppose the bill -- and he said it to a Chamber of Commerce gathering, employing big business-type rhetoric!
SEIU political director Jon Youngdahl responds:
Rep. Dan Boren chose to turn his back on the needs of struggling Oklahomans - in this unprecedented economic crisis, nearly one million residents of his state are unemployed, underemployed, or lacking adequate healthcare coverage.
That’s why we’re surprised Rep. Boren has already pledged to vote against the Employee Free Choice Act before it’s even introduced in Congress. He apparently has some fundamental misconceptions about what the bill actually does.
Oklahomans would be able to bargain for better wages, benefits, and job security while helping his state’s economy. If the Employee Free Choice Act passes, 900,000 Oklahomans would see a 14% raise – bringing more than $410,000,000 straight back into the state economy, every year.
That’s math even Dan Boren can understand.
It may be overly generous to assume that a guy who thinks that the Employee Free Choice Act in any way diminishes workers' access to some kind of sacrosanct, unpressured voting rights can understand the math showing that his constituents would benefit from a 14% raise. But that Boren is turning his back on the needs of struggling Oklahomans -- preferring instead to side with the arch-conservatives in the Chamber of Commerce -- is undeniable.