Now that the Democrats control both houses of Congress, it is a sure bet that their union allies, who helped get out the vote for them, will come calling to collect on their debt. And the payment that they will want is abolition of secret-ballot union elections.
Currently, unions must solicit workers for their signatures, asking for an election. After 30% of those workers have signed cards calling for an election, the union requests that the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) supervise an election. If a majority of workers vote in favor of the union, then the union becomes their representative.
The process has been secret since the mid 1930s and is designed to prevent unfair coercion of workers. Neither union representatives nor management representatives are permitted to campaign within the polling area on the day of the election.
Unions can also organize workers using card checks. That is, if 50% of workers signs cards stating that they want to be organized, management may choose to recognize the designated union as representing its workers. There is no worker privacy under card checks, so workers can be intimidated into signing cards by pro-union workers. It is, obviously, much easier to organize workers, using card checks than it is using secret ballot elections.
Now Congress has before it the Democratically sponsored “Employee Free Choice Act” which would eliminate secret ballot elections and replace it with card checks. The number of companies that would be organized would dramatically increase.
If secret-ballot elections are good enough for politicians, then secret-ballot elections should be good enough for American workers and companies. After all, it is an integral part of our democratic heritage.
