Secret Ballot Watch

Each year on February 2^nd, we watch and wait to see whether the famed Punxsutawney Phil will emerge from his burrow and see his shadow (signifying six more weeks of winter) or not (meaning spring will come early). For the record, it seems now would be a bad time to pack up those snow shovels; Phil saw his shadow this morning. 

But weather forecasting isn’t the only thing Groundhog Day is known for. Movie fans will also recall the 1993 film in which a weatherman played by Bill Murray finds himself reliving the same day over, and over, and over again. 

It is this Groundhog Day that seems to be playing out for supporters of the anti-worker card check plan. Day after day, they find themselves reading one negative editorial after another decrying their plan to deny workers the right to a secret ballot. Their unpopular plan—inexplicably dubbed the Employee Free Choice Act, despite the fact that it offers workers anything but—would replace secret ballot unionizing elections with a public sign-up process that would make workers’ votes public for all to see. 

Every day must feel a lot like the last for supporters of this undemocratic plan, with editorials stacking up each day in opposition to the card check scheme. Take the editorial in today’s Grand Rapids Press: 

“Under the Employee Free Choice Act, a majority of employees simply need to sign a card expressing a willingness to join the union. Workers would likely make this crucial decision in the presence of union organizers, who would undoubtedly exercise considerable influence over them. Fellow workers would probably know who voted and how. So would bosses. Unions could still call a secret election, but the company's right to demand one, something that is typically done now, would be taken away. 

“In addition to undermining secret ballots, the act would force companies to enter binding arbitration for a new union's first contract and toughen penalties for companies that violate labor laws. 

“The act strikes at the heart of a basic tenet of democratic elections -- the guarantee that people can cast their ballots without fear of retribution or coercion.” 

Editorial, “Retain secret ballots for union organizing elections,” Grand Rapids Press, 02.02.09

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Of course, there’s an easy way for card check supporters to wake up from this unending circle of bad press and public opposition: they could stop trying to take away the secret ballot.

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