Democrats' Bill Leaves Workers "Vulnerable to Intimidation, Strong-Arming and Retribution"

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Imagine it is November 2008 and your community leaders decide not to hold elections. Instead of heading into a voting booth like you always have, you're told to show up at town hall and declare publicly - in front of your neighbors and community leaders - for whom and what you're voting. Sounds crazy, doesn't it? Well hold on to your punch card because House Democrats are proposing something similar for your workplace.

A bill introduced this morning by House Democrats would strip American workers of the right to choose - freely and anonymously - whether to unionize, while leaving them open to harassment, intimidation, and union pressure.

Current law allows for unions to organize through either a federally-supervised private ballot election or a "card check" system - a process whereby union bosses gather "authorization cards" purportedly signed by workers expressing their desire for the union to represent them. The Democrats' bill does away with federally-supervised private ballot elections altogether, forcing workers into unions without even allowing them the opportunity to express their wishes free from intimidation by co-workers, union organizers, and employers.

An editorial in today's Grand Rapids Press blasts the proposal, arguing that "[e]very American should have a government-protected right to join a labor union. But there must be an equal opportunity to not join." The editorial explains:

"The key element is the absence of a secret ballot. Current federal law stipulates that if a majority of workers sign petitions for a union representation election, such a vote is held under the neutrality rules and oversight of the National Labor Relations Board. The workers decide for themselves via the secret ballot -- no one looking over their shoulders, marking down positions or otherwise lifting eyebrows. The card-check process is the opposite: no privacy and therefore vulnerable to intimidation, strong-arming and retribution.

"The issue ... is worker freedom. Union leaders and the Democrats running the card-check errand... ought to explain why they are so afraid of secret ballots."

Ranking Republican on the House Education & Labor Committee, Howard P. "Buck" McKeon (R-CA), recently pointed out that card check supporters claim private ballot elections aren't necessary, except for when workers want to break ties with a union. As McKeon said:

"'If a card check is good enough for workers to organize a union in a workplace, it should be good enough to allow them to break ties with that same union if they are not satisfied with the way it's representing them,' said McKeon. 'The fact that card check supporters are not even remotely consistent on this issue is proof that this so-called 'workers rights' bill has nothing to do with workers at all. Rather, it has everything to do with Big Labor's last, desperate gasp in the midst of dwindling union membership - even if that means making a worker's personal vote public.'"

It's clear that this bill is little more than a sop to the Big Labor bosses that helped Democrats take the majority in Congress - special-interest payback aimed at boosting flagging union membership. After all, the easier it is to force workers into unions - and keep them there - the more money will be available for Democratic candidates and causes.

If Democrats are willing to take away a right as fundamental as the private ballot, what else could be in store?

Good question...what else is in store from the Demcorats?