Employee choice act is not the answer

I beg to differ with the opinion expressed in a recent Fence Post by the president of Teamster Local 706 regarding the Employee Free Choice Act. There are enough problems on both sides of the fence, but the EFCA is not the answer. The very name of the bill is a misnomer, as its passage would actually decrease the freedom of workers to choose anonymously by secret ballot whether or not they wish to become part of a union. It should be the individual's business and nobody else's, with no coercion from either side, thus the need for the secret ballot. Comparing labor unions to the AMA or the American Bar Association is equally ludicrous. Neither of these associations bargain for wages and benefits for their members. Rather, they maintain a code of ethics, a code of conduct, and the certification of education and qualifications for those they represent. Bargaining for wages and benefits is not an issue with them at all so that comparison is misleading. And while I am writing, tell Ellen Goodman that Rush Limbaugh wants Obama to fail in bringing about socialism to our great democratic republic. Don't leave that detail out.

P.J. Bertrand

Wood Dale