Secret Ballot Watch

The state-by-state effort to protect workers’ fundamental right to a secret ballot is well known. In states across the nation, state and local governments are proactively taking a stand against the so-called Employee Free Choice Act, a bill introduced in the United States Congress that would actually take away employees’ ability to freely choose whether they wish to join a union through a federally-supervised secret ballot election.

Now, it seems the movement to protect the secret ballot has spread beyond the continental 48, reaching as far as Guam. The island’s Pacific Daily News reports— 

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“A bill introduced in the Guam Legislature would preserve the current system of employees voting by secret ballot to form labor unions locally.

“Republican Sen. Ray Tenorio, who introduced Bill 98 yesterday, said it would protect the decision-making process of employees by not having it open to outside influence.

“‘If you're making that kind of decision, some people will want you to join and some don't want you to join,’ Tenorio said. ‘Don't you want to have that decision without the pressure and intimidation of people trying to influence you?’”

Murphy, “Bill would require secret vote for unions,” Pacific Daily News, 04.18.09 

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It’s a fair question. Don’t we want workers to be able to make the decision without the pressure and intimidation of people trying to influence them?

There’s an obvious solution. The privacy and protection of a secret ballot. Sounds a lot like “employee free choice” to us.

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