Death of the Card Check

I was pleased to see that Arlen Specter will not support the Employee Free Choice Act which would have made it much easier for laoor unions to form, but at the cost of civil liberties. Essentially, the current law requires a card check process whereby 30% of a given work force must sign a petition, which is then presented to the employer, that they support forming a union to bargain on their behalf. At this a point, a secret election can be held where, if 60% of workers agree, a union will be formed as certified by the National Labor Relations Board.

The Free Choice Act's most important component is the elimination of the secret ballot, creating a circumstance where everyone will know how any given worker voted. Union leaders have argued that the secret ballot grants too much of an advantage to the employer. I guess they are sort of right, as allowing people to vote how they want to does tend to give the advantage to the side that eventually wins (hey, isn't that how elections work?). Essentially, union officials want the added social pressures of voting pro-union which comes from everybody you work with knowing that you just voted against collective bargaining. The only real purpose of this measure is for union officials to coerce the workforce into supporting their cause.

Secret Ballots are one of a democracy's most important features. I do not oppose the creation of unions, but if these bodies are incapable of getting the support necessary without resorting to Tammany Hall tactics, then they have no business setting up a union in the first place.