With two Arkansas senators among the four members of the Democratic caucaus who declined to co-sponsor the Employee Free Choice Act, Henderson State University history professor Martin Halpern notes in today's Arkansas Times  that this is not the first time that the state's officials have been at the forefront of attempts to reform the nation's labor laws:

During the past three decades, labor unions have come up short in efforts to reform the nation’s labor law. Votes supporting filibusters from Arkansas senators have been important to these setbacks but there are signs that the outcome might be different this time. Unions are campaigning for the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) and it may be that Sens. Blanche Lincoln and Mark Pryor will help give a much-needed boost to workers’ right to form unions and win collective bargaining rights.

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