Americans Use Secret Ballot to Help Stop Big Labor Assault on Secret Ballot

James Sherk / November 03, 2010

Big Labor’s number one priority in the 111th Congress was the Employee Free Choice Act. Also known as check, the law would have allowed union organizers to publicly solicit workers’ signed union authorization cards. If a majority of a company’s workers signed cards, then all workers would be forced to join the union without any opportunity to vote in a secret ballot election. Since union organizers would know exactly who did and did not sign cards, they could pressure the holdouts to change their mind.

Fortunately, card check did not pass the 111th Congress. But citizens in four states wanted to make sure their voices were heard on the issue. So Arizona, South Carolina, South Dakota, and Utah all had measures on the ballot that amended their state constitutions to better protect the secret ballot in organizing elections. All four measures passed by 20 points or more. (more…)