According to Texas Lawyer, President Barack Obama and the new Congress promptly have begun to follow through on their campaign promises to enact rules favoring employees and unions over employers. On Jan. 29, Obama signed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, the first new law enacted by Obama and the new Congress. On Jan. 30 and Feb. 6, Obama signed four new executive orders intended to shift the balance in favor of unions on federal contract work. Finally, the Paycheck Fairness Act, a companion bill to the Ledbetter Act, has passed the House of Representatives and is now pending in the Senate.
These actions are in addition to the proposed Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), which would eliminate secret-ballot elections for unionization, increase penalties for unfair labor practices, and impose terms and conditions of employment on employers who fail promptly to agree to a union contract. Taken together, these new and proposed laws represent the release of pent-up frustration with the Bush administration and a promised payback to the labor movement for its assistance in the last election. For lawyers, they portend a dramatic expansion of employment law counseling and litigation.
