Sen. Arlen Specter, Pennsylvania Republican, said Tuesday that he would oppose a fiercely contested bill designed to make it easier to unionize workplaces, dealing a devastating blow to President Obama’s effort to repay labor supporters with legislation they have long coveted.
Mr. Specter, the only Senate Republican to vote for the measure two years ago, withdrew his support in a speech on the Senate floor. The switch virtually guarantees his party can muster the 40 votes needed to kill the bill in a filibuster, even without any Democratic help.
“I am announcing my decision now because I have consulted with a very large number of interested parties on both sides, and I have made up my mind,” he said. “Knowing that I will not support cloture on this bill, senators may choose to move on.”
The critical provision of the Employee Free Choice Act would allow unions to organize workplaces if more than half the workers sign a card in support, a “card-check” method that is significantly easier than the traditional secret ballot.
Both labor and business interests aggressively lobbied Mr. Specter, including a promise that the Pennsylvania AFL-CIO would urge union members to register as Republicans to help him win an expected 2010 primary race in exchange for his support on card check.
Pennsylvania AFL-CIO President William George said Mr. Specter’s announcement was disheartening and took him by surprise. “I’m disappointed he didn’t call labor people ahead of time,” he said.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Nevada Democrat, said Mr. Specter’s decision is not the end of the line for the bill.
“He’s not the only Republican who has indicated a willingness to consider something being done,” Mr. Reid said. “Anyone thinks they’re burying card check because of Specter’s statement in an effort to avoid a primary in Pennsylvania should not think that our legislation is going to go away.”
Mr. Specter’s decision came in the face of an expected primary challenge from his party’s conservative wing, possibly from former Rep. Pat Toomey, president of the Club for Growth, a limited-government, low-tax advocacy group.
Mr. Specter, a five-term incumbent, already had to counter attacks from conservatives over his pivotal role in crossing party lines to help pass President Obama’s $787 billion economic-stimulus bill.
On the Senate floor, Mr. Specter insisted he made his decision based on the bill’s merits.
“This announcement should end the rumor mill that I have made some deal for my political advantage,” he said. “I have not traded my vote in the past, and I would not do so now.”
The secret ballot, he said, was “the cornerstone of how contests are decided in a democratic society.”
He also said he opposed a provision mandating government arbitration to settle contract disputes, which he said “may subject the employer to a deal he or she cannot live with.”
Business groups applauded his switch.
Thomas J. Donohue, president and CEO of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, said the nation’s leading business group was “very pleased that Senator Specter has carefully reviewed its substance and understands the adverse impact of the bill.”
Saying card-check backers may try to pass a modified version of the bill, Mr. Donohue said the Chamber “will continue to use every tool at its disposal to fight this legislation until it is taken off the table altogether.”
Both sides of the debate agree that the change likely would expand union membership, a boon for a labor movement whose ranks have dwindled to about 12 percent of the work force from the 20 percent it was 25 years ago.
The AFL-CIO and other labor groups say the changes are needed to level the playing field in organizing battles, which they say now heavily favor management.
Mary Beth Maxwell, executive director of the pro-union American Rights at Work, vowed to keep pressing lawmakers to pass the bill.
She criticized Mr. Specter for switching his position on the bill and for blocking even a Senate floor vote.
“His statement today opposing an up-or-down vote and real discussion is inconsistent with his own record of support for working people,” she said.
• Kara Rowland contributed to this report.
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