Secret Ballot Watch

The Employee Free Choice Act will create forced government contracts; it will deny workers the right to a secret ballot (or maybe rush union elections); and it will kick an economy that’s already down.  

And its supporters want to pass the proposal anyway.

That’s what Steve Forbes concludes in a piece he wrote for today’s Politico. The editor-in-chief of Forbes magazine says that supporters are acting more for their own economic interests than the country’s – or even those of their fellow workers:  

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“It is clear that Big Labor will say and do anything to move this legislation forward and that it is not concerned with the integrity of the debate or whether businesses and our economy can withstand the results. Big Labor’s concern is not for workers but the bottom line of the organizations they have mismanaged.

“Our bottom line is that it is nonnegotiable that workers must have a say on the terms of contracts that deal with their wages, benefits and workplace conditions. And it is nonnegotiable that workers have the right to vote via secret ballot and be afforded enough time to make an informed decision about unionization.”

Forbes, “Binding arbitration is still bad for workers,” Politico, 07.28.09

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For months, we have heard about a possible compromise for the Employee Free Choice Act, including a version that would eliminate the “card check” provision. But as Forbes and others have noted, the entire act – even in a compromised form – is still a threat to the economy. To protect our economic future, this bill must not become law.

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