Over at the AFL-CIO’s blog, they’re hopping mad that Enterprise Rent-A-Car has decided not to recognize a union without allowing its employees to vote in a secret ballot election. The union guys say the simple fact that a majority of employees signed a card requesting a union should be enough. In turn, they say, this is a perfect example of why we need the unjustifiably misnamed “Employee Free Choice Act,” which would effectively kill secret ballots altogether. But there’s a powerful source refuting the AFL’s claims — itself!

Currently the union bosses say 23 of 30 Enterprise employees — 76% — have signed cards saying they want a union. That would be fine, except that cards are not the same as votes. Indeed, the AFL-CIO found in its own organizing survey published in 1989 that:

It is not until the union obtains signatures from 75% or more of the unit that the union has more than a 50% likelihood of winning the election.

That’s because frequently employees sign union cards to “get the union off my back” or change their mind once they’re more informed during the elections process. So there’s really no evidence that the union is a shoe-in if employees got to vote. Now we know why they prefer to bypass democracy and head straight for the part where the union is recognized and gets to collect the dues money.