Senator Specter addresses issues of interest to packagers

Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania responded to questions of interest to the packaging industry presented to him by yours truly and others at a town hall meeting held on January 26th at Lebanon Valley College in Annville, PA. The outcome of the Employee Free Choice Act and government support of technology education will be important to many packagers and their suppliers. Senator Specter will have a significant role in the new Congress given his seniority, experience and willingness to take independent positions not supported by his party.

Senator Specter addresses group at Lebanon Valley College

With a 59 to 41 party split in the Senate, readers outside of the US may not appreciate the potential importance of being able to get to 60 votes to cut off debate and move bills forward. Senator Spector has a history of breaking rank and siding with Democrats on important issues, so his opinions on these matters could constitute the deciding vote.

Senator Specter claims to be undecided on the question of the Employee Free Choice Act, also known as Card Check. The most controversial part of this bill is the elimination of the secret ballot in elections where employees are asked to decide whether or not to unionize. One questioner, a proponent of the act, claimed that more unionized employees in the workforce will create an economic stimulus by making available more wages to be spent. An opponent of the act worried about more businesses following in the wake of General Motors and Chrysler if they become unionized.

Of particular note, given Specter's 28 years in the Senate, was his comment that this has become the most heavily lobbied issue that he has seen in his tenure in government. He is hearing from many people and is considering whether or not to support the act. Specter wants to see labor law reform of some type as he is not happy with the politicalization of the National Labor Relations Board which has kept it from performing its responsibilities with impartiality and promptness.

On the matter of technology education, there was an effort by me and another questioner to raise awareness of the need to increase focus in the US on technology education requiring less than a bachelors degree. The dire shortage of skilled labor to support manufacturing, including packaging machine manufacturing and operations, has been written about often on this blog. The Senator's response went directly to 4 year degree programs, not to the needs of the so-called 'forgotten middle half'. Listen to his comments on science, math and student loan forgiveness. The Senator's staff has promised to be in touch with me to continue this discussion.

Town meetings are a great way to bring attention to issues, and Senator Specter has a history of holding them in all 67 of Pennsylvania's counties. They afford the opportunity of presenting issues publicly and directly to the Senator under the watchful gaze of the TV camera, privately and directly in the hallway before or after the meeting, and to his staff who are present in significant numbers. The disappointing thing is that so few people avail themselves of the opportunity. Not more than 75 people attended this meeting, at least 10% of them from the press. We could easily have had a majority of the audience there representing the concerns of packagers, but we did not. Even more disappointing to me was that, although the meeting was held in the middle of the morning in the middle of a college campus, not more than 10% of the participants were students. What an opportunity missed for students and packagers alike!

TrackBack

Comments Post a comment (If you haven't left a comment here before, you may need to be approved by the site owner before your comment will appear. Until then, it won't appear on the entry. Thanks for waiting.) Name: Email Address: URL: Remember personal info? Comments: (you may use HTML tags for style) Type the word 'packaging' (required):