Secret Ballot Watch

A worker’s right to a secret ballot became a little safer today as a handful senators dropped their support of the “card check” provision in the Employee Free Choice Act.

But while this appears to be good news for workers, rejection of the politically toxic proposal may merely be camouflage for an agenda to impose alternative revisions to workplace law that would be equally threatening to workers and job creation.

The New York Times reports on this major development in the months-long battle, the stakes of which are nothing less than the future of the workplace and the health of the U.S. economy:

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A half-dozen senators friendly to labor have decided to drop a central provision of a bill that would have made it easier to organize workers.

The so-called card-check provision – which senators decided to scrap to help secure a filibuster-proof 60 votes – would have required employers to recognize a union as soon as a majority of workers signed cards saying they wanted a union. Currently, employers can insist on a secret-ballot election, a higher hurdle for unions. …

“Though the Democrats have a 60-40 vote advantage in the Senate, and President Obama supports the measure, several moderate Democrats opposed the card-check provision as undemocratic."

Greenhouse, “Democrats Drop Key Part of Bill to Assist Unions,” The New York Times, 07.17.09

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Despite its name, the Employee Free Choice Act has never been about giving workers a “free choice” in whether to join a union because the secret ballot – a time-honored and successful method of organizing – would be set aside.

In its place, a public majority sign-up would be used, leaving workers open to intimidation and coercion.

Formal repudiation of card check by Senate Democrats is a great victory for those who believe in the sanctity of the secret ballot. But now is not the time to rest easy.

As The Times notes, workers may not be out of the woods just yet. The decision to jettison the card check provision may turn out to be a political calculation to force passage of equally troubling proposals that change the way workers organize.

And, lest we forget, there are other dangers lurking in the bill that can wreck our already weakened economy, such as the forced government contracts.

Whether it’s a card check alternative or a bureaucratic takeover of small businesses, any iteration of the Employee Free Choice Act would be “disastrous” for our economy and our record unemployment rates.

The fight against the so-called Employee Free Choice Act must continue.

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