Labor Pains: Because Being in a Union can be Painful

Employee Disenfranchisement Act

For union organizing elections, the legislation would replace the secret ballot with a system of “card checks,” where union organizers pressure workers to publicly sign a card stating they want to join a union. Workers would never have the option of voting against union membership, and millions of workers could be forced into a union without ever getting the chance to vote on the matter.

James Sherk over at the Heritage Foundation has an interesting rundown of the number of Americans that would be disenfranchised by the deceptively-named Employee Free Choice Act:

The Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) would disenfranchise 105 million American workers. For union organizing elections, the legislation would replace the secret ballot with a system of “card checks,” where union organizers pressure workers to publicly sign a card stating they want to join a union. Workers would never have the option of voting against union membership, and millions of workers could be forced into a union without ever getting the chance to vote on the matter. Congress should preserve a worker’s right to vote in privacy on union membership.

Categories: Center for Union FactsEnding Secret Ballots