Secret Ballot Watch

Amid continued public outcry, inside-the-beltway Democrats have remained tightlipped about exactly when they plan to strip workers of secret ballot unionizing elections by advancing their anti-worker card check scheme. Luckily for American workers, state legislators from across the nation aren’t willing to stand by while Democrats in Washington and their special interest allies plot to take away workers’ basic rights. Instead, local movements are gaining traction to preemptively protect the secret ballot and ensure workers aren’t subject to the pressure, intimidation, and coercion that could come with the public sign-up process that card check supporters would impose.

Today’s Spartanburg Herald-Journal carries an editorial supporting the efforts of a group of South Carolina state legislators who are fighting to amend that state’s constitution in order to ensure workers will always have the right to a secret ballot in the workplace. As the Herald-Journal notes—

---

"The lawmakers are concerned about the deceptively named Employee Free Choice Act, which would actually take away the right of workers to vote by secret ballot on whether to organize into a union.

"The bill is a payback to big labor unions from Democrats in Congress. The unions worked for congressional Democrats and spent huge sums to help them win elections. Now a Democratically controlled Congress is expected to repay the favor by eliminating workers' rights."

Editorial, “Protecting workers' rights,” Spartanburg Herald-Journal, 01.22.09

---

The growth of a grassroots movement to protect workers’ rights is a clear sign that the American people are rejecting the card check special interest payback, and they’re willing to fight to keep the secret ballot. State and local leaders are listening: Will congressional Democrats?

# # #