Secret Ballot Watch

In the ongoing battle over whether workers should have access to the privacy and protections of secret ballots in union organizing elections, few things come as a surprise anymore. But one thing that never ceases to amaze is the discrepancy between workers’ rights, and efforts to protect those rights, in Mexico and right here at home.

Longtime observers of the troubling card check scheme already know that Democratic congressional leaders are on record supporting secret ballots for workers in Mexico. Consider what they wrote in a 2001 letter to Mexican officials (emphasis added):

---

"As members of Congress of the United States who are deeply concerned with international labor standards and the role of labor rights in international trade agreements, we are writing to encourage you to use the secret ballot in all union recognition elections.

"We understand that the secret ballot is allowed for, but not required, by Mexican labor law. However, we feel that the secret ballot is absolutely necessary in order to ensure that workers are not intimidated into voting for a union they might not otherwise choose."

---

Now, it seems that the Mexican courts have joined in the effort to protect workers’ fundamental right to organize freely and without intimidation, coercion, or retribution. Consider the following analysis, which appeared in The Washington Times earlier this month:

---

“… Mexico's highest court, the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation, last year unanimously ruled in favor of secret votes for workers considering which union could represent them in collective bargaining agreements. While Mexico's labor law differs from that in the U.S., any step to safeguard workers' freedom and privacy is a great advance in an economy long bedeviled by measures that destroyed jobs while strengthening unions.

“Mexico's highest court affirmed a lower court ruling which cited as justification for their decision the United Nation's Universal Human Rights Declaration and Convention number 87 of the International Labor Organization. The declaration and convention established that secret ballots permit employees to exercise democratic principles while open voting allows for undue pressure and coercion. The National Association of Democratic Lawyers, a group of labor lawyers, academics and labor organizations in Mexico, called the secret ballot "an essential element for respecting workers' rights and for the democratization of unions and the country itself." Democratization and the secret ballot have always been the hallmark of worker freedom and protecting the rights of workers to organize. …”

Vernuccio, “When Mexicans have more rights than U.S.,” The Washington Times, 02.13.09

---

To recap: Democratic congressional leaders, Mexico’s highest court, and the United Nations Universal Human Rights Declaration have all come down on the side of secret ballots in workplace organizing elections. At least for those elections that take place in Mexican workplaces. Don’t American workers deserve the same?

# # #