Steven Swirsky, a Member of the Firm in the Labor and Employment and Health Care and Life Science practices in the New York office, was quoted in an EmploymentLaw360 article on organized labor's stance that companies that receive federal bailout money should be restricted in their ability to oppose union organizing efforts.

In the article, titled, "TARP No Help To Unions At Bargaining Table: Attys," Swirsky said that organized labor, which has been on the defensive for the past eight years, has been seeking to take a more aggressive stance toward organizing. Increasingly, unions have been raising populist, anti-business arguments in efforts to organize workers, he said. Federal bailout efforts that have provided additional access to credit and funds are not enough to give labor the boost it is seeking. Swirsky noted that there is a good deal of popular antipathy toward business, but the current difficult economic environment with rising unemployment may still hamstring labor's efforts.

"Labor's going to be emboldened, to a degree," he said, but added: "I don't think that the fact that there's federal money is going to give the unions more power to extract higher wages or greater benefits. They will make their arguments, they will do their homework, and I expect them to be knowledgeable. But I don't think it gives them any greater leverage than it would otherwise."

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