Solidarity for Now

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The centrist Democratic Leadership Council announced Wednesday that it is endorsing a bill expanding workers’ rights, creating a rare partnership between the DLC and the same labor organizations it has butted heads with in the past.

“I’m not sure we ever thought we’d see this day,” said Gerald McEntee, president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.

The DLC’s endorsement of the Employee Free Choice Act is the result of several months of meetings between the group and labor leaders to iron out their differences. Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack (D), the chairman of the DLC, said the talks are part of the group’s effort to reach out to America’s workers.

The bill, which was reintroduced in 2005 by Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.) and Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.), requires employers to recognize unions when a majority of workers request one and strengthens penalties for those who prevent workers from unionizing.

McEntee and officials from the AFL-CIO, Change to Win and United Steelworkers union heralded the DLC’s support as a major step toward solving the crisis of economic inequality.

Monumental Challenge. Lobbyist Stewart Verdery, a former Capitol Hill aide and one-time Homeland Security official, has parted ways with Mehlman Vogel Castagnetti to form Monument Policy Group.

Verdery said he’s taking 10 clients, including IBM, the Retail Industry Leaders Association, American Immigration Lawyers Association, the Essential Worker Immigration Coalition and Cross Match Technologies.

Verdery called his departure from MVC “amicable. I walked in there with no business and was able to build a practice under their umbrella.” But, he added, he and the firm had differing views on the homeland security practice, and he ran into client conflicts on the technology side.

He said he plans to expand Monument Policy Group to have enough employees “for a card game.”

Managing Change. The Congressional Management Foundation, a nonprofit group that works to promote efficiency through better management of Congressional offices, has hired a new executive director. Beverly Bell, who has been a CMF board member, will leave her job as a lobbyist for PricewaterhouseCoopers. She will succeed Rick Shapiro, who is stepping down at the end of the year.

— Emily Yehle, Kate Ackley and Tory Newmyer