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By Amanda Carpenter

The unions' pope

The unions may be losing Democrats in pursuit of their No. 1 legislative priority, but they say one powerful ally remains on their side: God.

The Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), which would ease union organizing rules, is widely supported by Democrats who control the House, the Senate and the White House, but progress on the bill has stalled in light of the economic downturn and the 2010 elections.

Rep. Charlie Melancon, Louisiana Democrat, who may challenge Republican Sen. David Vitter in 2010, is the latest to fall off the EFCA wagon.

The Hill reported Wednesday that Mr. Melancon, a co-sponsor of the House version of the EFCA, is working on a "bipartisan solution" to amend the bill in a way that would make it more appeasing to business groups.

Likewise, Sen. Michael Bennet, Colorado Democrat, who filled Ken Salazar's Senate seat when he was named interior secretary and is running for re-election in 2010, has said he would have a "hard time" voting for cloture on the bill, because of the burden it would impose on businesses. Sen. Blanche Lincoln, Arkansas Democrat and another 2010 candidate, said in April that she "cannot support the bill in its current form."

While support for the bill appears to be dwindling on Capitol Hill, the unions are playing a trump card.

The AFL-CIO issued a press release Wednesday lauding a papal encyclical by Pope Benedict XVI that calls for increasing the size and strength of union forces.

"Governments, for reasons of economic utility, often limit the freedom or the negotiating capacity of labor unions," the pontiff wrote. "Hence traditional networks of solidarity have more and more obstacles to overcome. The repeated calls issued within the Church's social doctrine, beginning with Rerum Novarum for the promotion of workers' associations that can defend their rights, must therefore be honored today even more than in the past, as a prompt and far-sighted response to the urgent need for new forms of cooperation at the international level, as well as the local level."

The AFL-CIO said the pope's statement "makes it clear it's a matter of moral imperative" to ease rules regarding union organization.