The Democratic Party victories in capturing the White House and seats in both the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, greatly increases the chances of passage of legislation making it much easier for unions to organize employers in the U.S., predicts the Littler Mendelson law firm.

According to Littler, organized labor has publicly stated that its top priority in the 111th Congress, which begins in January 2009, is passage of the Employee Free Choice Act, which was originally co-sponsored by President-elect Obama. When he accepted the endorsement of the Service Employees International Union during the campaign, President-elect Obama vowed that, if elected, he would pass the EFCA, stating, "We will pass the Employee Free Choice Act. We may have to wait for the next President to sign it, but we will get this thing done." President-elect Obama has also pledged to assist organized labor by ushering in a union-friendly administration.

The Free Choice Act would require the National Labor Relations Board to certify a labor union as the exclusive bargaining representative of employees through union authorization cards signed by employees, without the benefit of a government-supervised, secret-ballot election; require mandatory interest arbitration if an employer and a newly certified union are unable to reach a first contract within a relatively short period of time; and expand the NLRB's remedial power for employer unfair labor practices during union organizing campaigns and during bargaining, including the authority to award civil penalties, Littler says.