Back secret ballots, vote no on HR1409

Lynn Barnett's recent letter claims the Employee Free Choice Act (H. R. 1409) does not eliminate the secret ballot and suggests readers look up the bill themselves.

I did so, and Lynn is mistaken: "If the Board finds that a majority of the employees in a unit appropriate for bargaining has signed valid authorizations designating the individual or labor organization specified in the petition as their bargaining representative and that no other individual or labor organization is currently certified or recognized as the exclusive representative of any of the employees in the unit, the board shall not direct an election but shall certify the individual or labor organization as the representative described in subsection (a)."

In other words, a union does not need to win a majority of votes in a secret election to organize a workplace. It simply needs to get a majority of workers to sign a card, which is a process that does not take place in secret, and therefore invites tactics of pressure and intimidation.

Further, this bill eliminates incentives for good-faith negotiations and compromise, because it prescribes binding arbitration if the union and the business do not agree on a collective bargaining agreement in 120 days.

Whether you favor unions or not, if you believe in the democratic principle of a secret ballot, contact your representative and senators and urge a "No" vote on this bill.

Dan Bremner

Arlington Heights