Secret Ballot Watch

It’s been a quiet summer for card check – and here’s hoping it stays that way.

The Employee Free Choice Act has been in legislative limbo since the spring as Democrats try to rally 60 votes to stop a possible filibuster if the proposal ever comes to the Senate floor for a vote.

Since then, there have been rumors and hints of “card check lite,” a compromise version of the bill that, theoretically, would be easier to pass and move through the legislative process to become law. But Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid told the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce last week the act is staying put for now:   

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“Reid also said the Employee Free Choice Act, designed to help unions organize more easily through card-check votes and mandatory binding arbitration, has fallen off the Senate's radar for now.

“‘We have too many other things on our plate,’ he said.”

Robison, “Reid hit, feted at business luncheon,” Las Vegas Review-Journal, 08.27.09  

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There are many reasons why the Employee Free Choice Act should not become law, including its ability to set aside the secret ballot for workers, force government contracts, and kick an economy that’s trying to get back on its feet.

Let’s hope the Senate’s “plate” remains full for a long time. Putting EFCA back on it will give the economy a major case of indigestion.

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