Part 1: Albany Reform
Part 2: Reproductive freedom

For obvious reasons, most people right now expect Democrats to control the White House and both chambers of Congress in January, opening up the door to a new era of Progressive reform that some are calling a New New Deal. One of the most important areas of reform, a keystone of empowering workers and restarting the economy, is the Employee Free Choice Act or EFCA.

The Employee Free Choice Act will make it easier for men and women to join a union in their workplace. The legislation would give workers a fair and direct path to form unions through majority sign-up, help employees secure a contract with their employer in a reasonable period of time, and toughen penalties against employers who violate their workers' rights.

The Employee Free Choice Act can restore the balance, giving more workers a chance to form unions and get better health care, job security, and benefits – and an opportunity to pursue their dreams.

EFCA will create a massive unionization wave among workers at strictly anti-union companies such as Wal-Mart. However, to effectively work, it will need to be accompanied by state-level legislation that expands on and clarifies the meaning of the Act in accordance with the local state-level legal framework. In New York, where we already have strong (and very territorial) unions, that's not going to be uncontentious.

But what would be catastrophic is having Joe Robach, of Rochester, still sitting as chair of the Senate Labor Committee. His Democratic successor would be Diane Savino, a former high-level union organizer and one of the strongest voices for labor in the state. A Democratic Senate would act on behalf of labor; a republican Senate will not.