The president-elect Barack Obama is facing one of his first tough decisions of the term to come. The decision concerns the easier unionizing Barack Obama supported back when he was just Senator Obama, the presidential candidate. The debate involves a union organizing tool called “the card check.” The business community has unsurprisingly been planning a campaign against the implementation of the card check.

 

Back when he was campaigning, Obama was a strong supporter of the card check bill, and the same view is shared by Hilda Solis, who so far seems to be Obama’s choice for Labor Secretary. However, Obama has undergone an attitude and belief change since he was elected. Lately, for instance, Obama has been going out of his way to appease the business community. Such examples are the choices he made for his economic team, or the fact that he has decided to wait a while before repealing Bush’s tax cuts.

 

The Republicans are eagerly awaiting Obama’s final stance on the matter. House GOP leader John Boehner, for instance, stated that “It certainly should help us put our coalition back together. This will affect every business in the country.” Boehner makes a valid point, as every business that doesn’t have a union yet will be much more easily unionized if the card check bill will be accepted.

 

Solis, on the other hand, issued a statement where she explained her support for the car check, namely that “When union people get paid good wages, that money stays in the community, it helps to provide a vibrant economy”.