SACRAMENTO -- Another attempt at allowing "card-check" union organizing is set to gain approval by the state Legislature, but its chances with the governor are likely slimmer.

SB1474, a bill by Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, cruised through the Senate on party-line votes. It was approved by the Assembly labor committee on June 24, and need only pass the Assembly's fiscal committee before the full chamber votes on it.

If approved, it would head to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

The bill is a repeat of one Steinberg introduced last year. That version, like previous attempts at adopting card check, was vetoed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

The bill would allow an employer's workers to elect a labor union to represent them without the secret-ballot process currently required. The union would only need a majority of employees to sign cards.

Current law requires following that process with a secret-ballot election. Employers argue that without it, unions can coerce workers into signing cards, while unions say that employers can now coerce workers before they vote.

Several labor and worker-advocacy groups, including United Farm Workers, support the bill. A long list of agricultural and other business groups, including the California Farm Bureau Federation and California Chamber of Commerce, oppose it.

Labor leaders last year cited the recent heat-related deaths of farmworkers as reason for urgency in making it easier for workers to organize.

-- Wes Sander