But compromise is being sought

WASHINGTON -- Federal legislation aimed at making it easier for unions to organize workers may be running into trouble in the Senate.

Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, chairman of the Senate Appropriations Labor, Health and Human Services subcommittee, told a wire service that the so-called card-check provision in the Employee Free Choice Act may have to be removed from the bill because it lacks majority support among Senate Democrats.

Harkin said he is talking with his colleagues opposed to card check to search for a compromise.

"Compromises are going to be made," Harkin said. "It probably wont be card check because too many people are opposed to it now."

However, Sen. Arlen Specter, D-Pa., said the "prospects are pretty good" that a compromise will emerge that will salvage the card-check provision.

The Pennsylvania senator, who switched from the Republican to the Democratic party, said he has been meeting with labor leaders and fellow senators in hopes of coming up with a compromise he could support.

In March, Specter announced he would not vote for the bill, a vow he repeated after he switched parties.

President Barack Obama also was quoted as saying he hoped a compromise could be worked out that would "get enough votes to pass the bill."

Card check would replace the current system of secret-ballot elections supervised by the National Labor Relations Board for union representation contests, with a count of check-off cards signed by employees in determining whether a union has enough support to represent workers.

Harkin said a possible compromise on labor law could include tougher penalties against employers who harass, intimidate or fire workers trying to organize a union.

Card check is opposed by many business groups, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Manufacturers.

Another controversial provision in the proposed act calls for mandatory arbitration if the two sides fail to reach an agreement within approximately 130 days after a union is newly certified.

"Harkins comments are certainly welcome news," said Rhonda Bentz, a spokeswoman for the Coalition for a Democratic Workplace, a group of more than 500 organizations that oppose the legislation. "But theres still the binding interest arbitration provision, which is equally as harmful as the card check scheme for both small businesses and workers."

"The fight is definitely not over," Bentz said.