WASHINGTON – Two highly visible Washington state companies, Starbucks and Costco, have jumped into the most contentious organized labor issue in decades.

They now find themselves facing sharp criticism from all sides in a nasty fight over legislation that would make it easier for unions to organize.

“It’s pretty tough,” said Jim Sinegal, Costco’s chief executive. “To get both sides shooting at you, you either have to be a duck or inept.”

But just days after Costco, Starbucks and Texas-based Whole Foods said they couldn’t support the Employee Free Choice Act, also known as card check, a crucial Republican senator said he wouldn’t support the bill.

The bill would allow unions to avoid secret-ballot elections and organize a workplace if a majority of employees signed authorization cards. In addition, the measure would require binding arbitration if an initial collective bargaining agreement can’t be reached.

PRIORITY FOR ORGANIZED LABOR

Labor had been counting on Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter’s vote to break an expected filibuster to block the bill. Specter, who is facing a primary challenge from a former conservative congressman, said it was a “close call.” He said that while he supported changes in the National Labor Relations Act, the current proposal goes too far.

Though Specter made no mention of the potential compromise suggested by Costco, Starbucks and Whole Foods, Sinegal said it may have given Specter and several moderate Democratic senators the cover they needed to oppose the measure.

“We would like to feel we influenced Specter,” Sinegal said.

The measure is the top legislative priority of organized labor. President Barack Obama has previously supported the measure.

Unions say it’s needed because some companies delay elections and try to intimidate employees before the vote. They also say that after a union is formed, companies can drag their feet on an initial collective bargaining agreement for years. Unions now represent a little over 12 percent of the nation’s work force, and labor leaders see the bill as a way to increase union membership.

The business community says the measure would give unions too much power and cost them billions in additional wages and benefits at a time when the economy is in recession and global competition has become fierce. The business community also says the measure would usurp the fundamental right to vote on a contentious issue.

VULNERABLE TO UNIONIZATION

In late March, Costco, Starbucks and Whole Foods announced they had formed the Committee for a Level Playing Field and suggested a “third way” be found to reform the nation’s labor laws. The companies said they opposed ending secret-ballot elections and requiring binding arbitration for initial contracts. They acknowledged the current system was fraught with problems and suggested a time limit on holding elections and stricter penalties if a business tried to coerce its employees into opposing a union.

“We saw this thing as a train wreck,” Sinegal said of the bill. “We think card check is wrong. It’s not fair to employers and workers and the arbitration requirement is crazy.”

The three companies are generally regarded as having among the most progressive employee relations in the country, offering salaries and benefit packages that are among the best in the industry.

Despite that reputation, some labor analysts say Costco, Starbucks and Whole Foods could be among the first facing unionization if the Employee Free Choice Act, or EFCA, became law.

“I don’t know their motivation, but all three are vulnerable to unionization,” said Michael Honey, a humanities professor at the University of Washington Tacoma who has written several books on labor issues.

Sinegal said the three companies were just trying to do what they considered right.

“There is no hidden agenda here,” he said. “Given our companies’ reputations for progressive employee policies, we thought it would be taken as an effort to bring some reason to the situation.”

It wasn’t.

The business community called it a sellout and ill-advised at a time when support for the bill on Capitol Hill was ebbing.

“EFCA is on life support,” said Rhonda Bentz, a spokeswoman for a business group called the Coalition for a Democratic Workplace. “It makes no sense to negotiate when we are winning.”

Organized labor denounced the effort by the three companies as “naive,” anti-union and misguided because the fight over EFCA was far from finished.

“It’s not a compromise at all,” said John Goldstein of the labor group Americans Right to Work. “It was written by CEOs for CEOs. It doesn’t address any of the fundamental issues that must be addressed.”

Les Blumenthal: 202-383-0008

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