Senate Republicans on Tuesday rejected a bill to make it easier to form unions, defeating a drive by newly empowered Democrats to shore up a shrinking constituency - organised labour. On a vote of 51-48, Democratic backers fell short of the 60 votes needed to clear a procedural hurdle and move toward passing the legislation.
The measure would have enabled employees to create a union simply by obtaining the signatures of most of their fellow workers rather winning a federally supervised election. Labour, which has seen union membership plunge in recent years, contends the elections are tilted to favour employers and often result in the unlawful firing of organisers and even threats to close plants.
But traditionally pro-business Republicans blocked the bill, arguing it would violate workers' rights and undermine a hallmark of American democracy - the secret ballot.
"The principle of a secret ballot is deeply rooted in the American tradition, and workers here have enjoyed this freedom at the workplace by law for 60 years," said Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.
"By preserving the secret ballot in union organising drives, Republicans made sure America's 140 million workers are not intimidated or coerced into siding with either labour or management," McConnell said.
Democrats accused Republicans of stopping the bill on behalf of the business community, much of which has seen its profits soar in recent years while wages of working Americans remain stagnant.
Democrats campaigned on a promise to close the growing gap between rich and poor, and earlier this year kept a vow to raise the federal minimum wage for the first time in a decade. But Democrats' paper-thin Senate majority of 51-49 has thus far prevented them from advancing into law other campaign promises, such as ones to reduce the cost of a college education and prescription drugs and, most importantly, begin a withdrawal of US troops from the Iraq war.
Recent polls show only about one in four Americans approve of Congress, giving it one of its lowest approval ratings in the past decade. The bill blocked by Republicans was a top legislative priority of organised labour, which has sought to increase declining membership.
As of 2006, the most recent year figures are available, 13.1 percent of America's wage and salary workers were represented by unions, down from 23.3 percent in 1983, according to the Bureau of Labour Statistics.