Secret Ballot Watch

Now that card check legislation has been formally introduced in Congress, the arguments on both sides are coming into focus. One of the most puzzling claims that card check supporters repeat over and over is that workers are somehow being victimized today by secret ballot elections, because employers pressure them to vote no on joining a union.

This claim has never made much sense. If workers are being pressured from either side – unions or management – the secret ballot seems to be the only effective tool to ensure workers are able to freely vote their conscience without fear of retribution. A columnist in today’s Kansas City Star explains—

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“If freedom means anything, it means being able to decide for yourself.

“Yes, workers are bombarded by propaganda from both sides. Both sides will try to intimidate and coerce workers into voting the ‘right’ way.

“As long as the ballot is secret, a worker can tell each side what it wants to hear, and then just vote as he or she pleases.”

Marsh, “Employee Free Choice Act drops secret ballot in union certification,” Kansas City Star, 03.17.09

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If card check supporters truly believe that workers are already subject to undue pressure, why would they support a system that would place even more scrutiny on individual workers’ choices about whether or not to join a particular union? Replacing federally-supervised secret ballot elections with a public sign-up process that makes workers’ choices known would only exacerbate any public pressure, intimidation, and coercion that workers might face.

Republicans have proposed an alternative that truly places workers’ interests first. The Secret Ballot Protect Act would ensure that all workplace organizing elections take place by secret ballot. The bill guarantees that no one – not unions, not management – can force workers to vote publicly. If unfair pressure on workers is the problem, secret ballots are the solution.

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