From the diaries, by Erick.

Much to the pleasure of the organized labor movement, Sen. Tom Harkin, as the Chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, stands to offer a tremendous amount of help to Big Labor. By pledging to pass a misleadingly-named and detrimental bill called the Employee Free Choice Act, Sen. Harkin is revealing his true loyalties – and his inconsistent rhetoric.

With union pension plans grossly underfunded, EFCA presents a number of threats to workers and businesses, and a number of benefits for union bosses. In their quest for more political spending power, union bosses have been feverishly pushing for the swift passage of EFCA and the question arises as to what Sen. Harkin has been saying about the bill. The answer is quite egregious.

In July of this year the Senator assured the public that Democrats were “not doing anything” about EFCA due to other priorities on the docket such as healthcare. But on September 9, he told a group of pro-union activists that in July he had the 60 votes needed for EFCA to pass, and then proceeded to audaciously blame the lack of a vote on the recently late Senator Edward Kennedy. On October 22, Harkin admitted to a news source that Democrats are “very close to having an agreement” on the bill, though he didn’t go into details.

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According to Senator Tom Harkin (D-Labor), the Senate may vote next month on a Card Check compromise:

Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) indicated Wednesday that he will be ready to bring up the long-stalled Employee Free Choice Act next month, following weeks of negotiations with key stakeholders.

“We’re in meetings right now. I’m still hopeful that we can get something done,” Harkin said.

The Iowa Democrat has regularly huddled with Democratic Sens. Mark Pryor (Ark.), Charles Schumer (N.Y.) and Arlen Specter (Pa.) to try to hatch a compromise on the measure, known as “card check.” On Tuesday, Harkin included AFL-CIO legislative director Bill Samuel in the talks—an indication that progress is being made.

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According to Roll Call, the primary Senate sponsor of the Card Check bill has begun to reach out to Republicans on possible compromise legislation:

With Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) refusing to back a controversial union organizing bill, Senate Democrats have tapped Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) to begin preliminary discussions with a handful of moderate Republicans to try to come up with a new plan for reforming the nation’s labor laws.

Democratic aides said Harkin’s outreach to the GOP is in the early stages and, because of that, declined to identify which Republicans he is courting…

Democratic aides said that should a compromise be reached, it will likely end up somewhere between the card check bill as it’s currently written and an alternative union organizing proposal floated by Starbucks Corp., Costco Wholesale Corp. and Whole Foods Market Inc. That plan would retain the use of secret ballots when workers decide to unionize and would not include binding arbitration provisions. It would, however, include a number of other provisions, including allowing unions access to employees during off-work hours and requiring a fixed date for elections.

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You have to see it to believe it:

I worked on Capitol Hill long enough to know that most Congressional hearings have nothing to do with gathering information; they’re dog-and-pony shows intended to showcase an issue. I’ve never seen one actually converted into a union rally before - especially with the blessing of the Committee Chairman.

If union thugs are willing to boo, hiss, and throw things while a Senator is speaking in a Senate hearing room, with police on hand, what will they do to opponents of union organizing far from the cameras?

Update: I’ve heard from a Senate staffer who tells me that the the microphone failed to pick up just how loudly people were booing and hissing at Alexander when he spoke. He also says that no one had thrown anything when Harkin made his warning — at least not yet.