Our precious traditions of a secret ballot and a fair exchange of ideas need a president who will act to protect them. Will our new president fold under the pressure applied by one of the Democrats biggest benefactors? This battle between democratic values and special interests should tell us a lot about what to expect over the next four years.

Americans have been losing interest in joining unions for decades because unions have had a habit of destroying industries. Their penchant of overreaching in the auto, steel and airline industries is legendary. Unions have also driven cities like San Diego into financial crisis by binding them to unsustainable pension obligations. Teacher’s unions are notorious for standing in the way of vouchers programs that could make good schools accessible to poor kids. And of course they use union dues to lobby for causes that many of their members do not support. The arrogance of union leadership coupled with a miserable track record, inside and outside of government, have put them on a course heading called extinction. 

As a consequence unions are afraid of fair competition and an exchange of ideas. So they lobby Congress to write laws like the “Employee Free Choice Act”. Currently employees have the opportunity to hear both sides when a union seeks to represent them. Each employee is given an a chance to register his or her vote via a secret ballot after a period of campaigning by employer and union. The process is supervised by the National Labor Relations Board. But those good old fair and square Democrats want to scuttle the campaign and the privacy elements of the voting. Unions want to distill organizing down to merely signing a union card. If this act passes, union officials can solicit signatures as in the past but under the new law that would end the organizing process. Once more than 50% sign a card the union becomes the exclusive representative for the employees. 

I have experienced two union campaigns in the meat processing business. In one case the employer won and in the other the union won. I have an intimate and working knowledge of how the system works. Any law that allows a union to use cards signed as the only criteria of union support will create an unbalanced system. Put aside, for the moment, the issue of whether the company or union is the good guy. The question is how both can have a chance to present their case to the employees. 

Here’s what can happen if the new law is passed. Union representatives with one or more unhappy employee corner other employees and hand them cards. They then tell the employee that if he or she signs this card that the union will negotiate for them resulting in higher wages, benefits and better working conditions.  As a result many cards will be signed in the presence and under the pressure of these self serving promoters. The company will be given no opportunity to present it’s case. Once  more than 50% are signed under these coercive conditions the representation will be settled.   

This is not an abstract issue. As I write the Big Three Detroit automobile manufactures are asking to borrow billions of dollars ( 25 - 50 billion) from the American people. These companies have become non competitive due in large part to concessions made to the United Automobile Workers. Already thousands of manufacturing jobs have disappeared  because these companies were constrained from the changes they should make in order to remain competitive.

Meanwhile thousands of other Americans are currently employed manufacturing cars throughout the South and are asking the American tax payers for not one penny. The plants these workers work for are run free from U.A.W. interference. This could change dramatically if the “Employee Free Choice Act” passes. The net result could be thousands of more jobs sent overseas.

The patently unfair impact of this legislation should be crystal clear to the incoming President. He has made 100’s of speeches with fairness as a central theme. The implications of the “Employee Free Choice Act” are distinctly undemocratic despite it’s misleading name. Will our new President respond in support of the secret ballot that shields an employee from harassment?  Or will he acquiesce to the union lobby falling in line with his fellow kept Democrats? Remember he was a self proclaimed anti-special interest candidate. Does this “agent of change” have the courage to retain the current democratic process used in voting for or against representation? If he is the “change” candidate he claims to be he will ignore the union lobby and veto any card check bill, in order to protect every employee’s right to make a decision free of corrosion after having a chance to listened to both sides. I am anxious to see if our new President is really special or just a very smooth and ambitious ideologue.  Mr. President-elect this political basketball will soon be thrown into your court. How about scoring one for the secret ballot team?