A press release issued this week by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters took many people by surprise with its overt attack on the principle of the secret ballot. After all, supporters of the undemocratic card check plan – which replaces secret ballot voting with a public sign-up process that opens workers to intimidation and coercion – have been working overtime trying to convince the American people that their plan actually
preserves the secret ballot. But the unions’ true feelings about secret ballots were revealed in a harshly worded press statement from Teamsters General President James P. Hoffa—
"Since when is the secret ballot a basic tenet of democracy?" Hoffa said. "Town meetings in New England are as democratic as they come, and they don't use the secret ballot. Elections in the Soviet Union were by secret ballot, but those weren't democratic."
“Hoffa Commends Sponsors of Employee Free Choice Act,” 03.10.09
This dose of honesty is welcome. If union bosses really don’t see any value in allowing workers to vote by secret ballot, they ought to say so, and let the issue be debated on its merits.
But one would be wrong to assume that the Teamsters’ view on secret ballots was resolved with Hoffa’s dismissal of them via press release. In fact, a close look at the Teamsters’ own Constitution offers a very different take on the role of the secret ballot.
Consider the following, found beginning on page 21 (emphasis on secret ballots added throughout)—
Election of Delegates and Alternates
Section 5(a)(1). Delegates to any International Convention in which any International Union officers are nominated or elected shall be chosen by secret ballot vote of the membership …
Section 5(a)(3). Local Unions in Trusteeship may send delegates to the Convention only if a secret ballot election is conducted in accordance with Article XXII.
Or this, on pages 30-33—
Election of Officers
Section 2(a). At the International Convention, delegates shall nominate candidates for International Union Vice President by motion made in open Convention by a delegate and seconded by another delegate. … To qualify for the ballot as a candidate for Vice President, a candidate who has been nominated from the floor of the Convention must, thereafter, receive at least five (5%) percent of the votes cast by the delegates … Such voting shall be conducted by secret ballot.
(b). Candidates for the three (3) Trustee positions shall be nominated by motion made in open Convention by a delegate and seconded by another delegate. … To qualify for the ballot as a candidate for Trustee, a candidate who has been nominated from the floor of the Convention must, thereafter, receive at least five (5%) percent of the votes cast by the delegates to the Convention. Such voting shall be conducted by secret ballot.
(c). After the nomination of International Vice Presidents and Trustees, delegates shall nominate candidates for General President and General Secretary-Treasurer. Nominations shall be made in open Convention by a delegate and seconded by another delegate. … To qualify for the ballot as a candidate for General President or General Secretary-Treasurer, a candidate who has been nominated from the floor of the Convention must, thereafter, receive at least five (5%) percent of the votes cast by the delegates to the Convention. Such voting shall be conducted by secret ballot.
Section 3(a). No less than four (4) months and no more than six (6) months after the Convention, candidates nominated for the ballot for the offices of General President, General Secretary-Treasurer, Vice Presidents, and International Trustees shall be elected by direct rank-and-file voting by members in good standing. All voting shall be by secret ballot.
Surely, President Hoffa believes his own union is run democratically. And with its heavy reliance on secret ballots, it’s easy to see why. He himself was reelected as General President just over two years ago by rank-and-file members voting, as stipulated in their constitution, by secret ballot. Perhaps he might want to reconsider his hostility toward the practice when it comes to the question of whether workers wish to join in the first place.
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