Secret Ballot Watch

There are plenty of myths surrounding the so-called Employee Free Choice Act. But one of the most pervasive is the idea that the bill maintains workers’ right to a secret ballot. There’s just one problem: It’s just not true.  

Don’t believe us? Read the bill itself:  

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“If the [National Labor Relations] Board finds that a majority of the employees in a unit appropriate for bargaining has signed valid authorizations designating the individual or labor organization specified in the petition as their bargaining representative … the Board shall not direct an election but shall certify the individual or labor organization as the representative.” (emphasis added)

Text of H.R. 1409, the Employee Free Choice Act 

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And we’re not the only ones pointing this out. Just ask Charles I. Cohen.

Cohen is a former Clinton-appointed member of the National Labor Relations Board. He has noted that there is no guarantee to a secret ballot in the legislation – through a petition or otherwise. He has also described on the record how union ballots are supposed to work.

“The Board administers the election by bringing portable voting booths, ballots, and a ballot box to the workplace.  The election process occurs outside the presence of any supervisors or managerial representatives of the employer.  No campaigning of any kind may occur in the voting area,” Cohen testified to a U.S. House Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions Subcommittee hearing on Feb. 8, 2007.

If the labor union conducts a card-check campaign and chooses to submit 50 percent plus one authorization cards, Cohen added, workers would be barred from seeking a private ballot election. And that’s the truth.

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