Whats Happening to the Secret Ballot?
By Johnny Isakson Labor unions across the country are pushing Congress to take away the right of American workers to cast a secret ballot in deciding whether to join a union. Legislation to do just that a bill deceptively named the Employee Free Choice Act easily passed the House in the 110th Congress and fell only nine votes shy of passing in the Senate. Now, with proponents holding a larger majority in both chambers, the threat of this anti-worker legislation becoming law looms large. We must not let this happen. In an irony that none other than George Orwell would appreciate, the Employee Free Choice Act actually deprives employees of their free choice by replacing secret ballot elections the method by which most workers join unions with publicly signed union petitions. Labor leaders enthusiastic support for this legislation is predicated on the fear that, if left to their own devices in the privacy of a voting booth, American workers might choose not to join a union. They want to p
