Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

Don't let unions coerce

By A TIMES EDITORIAL
Published February 28, 2007

The fight for the survival of labor unions has degenerated into yet another national squabble over the counting of ballots. But union organizers are not asking for paper trails or hand recounts. They want to do away with union ballots altogether, and even those in Congress who are sympathetic to labor's plight ought to think twice about condemning democracy.

The Employee Free Choice Act, which could reach the House floor by Thursday, is a desperate reversal of seven decades of union-organizing strategy. The crown jewel of the 1935 National Labor Relations Act was the requirement, fiercely opposed at the time by employers, that the federal government supervise the secret ballots to decide whether workers would be represented by a union. Now union organizers want to end secrets ballot in favor of employee petition cards.

The reason is as obvious as the declining trend in union membership. The unions think they have a better shot at persuading employees one at a time, face to face, than to submit the issue to a secret vote. While it is true that elections give employers the time to persuade and potentially badger employees, each employee can still cast a vote without fear of retribution.

If union elections are inordinately delayed or employees are subjected to undue pressure, then companies should face meaningful penalties. But the unions aren't asking for fair play here. They want to corner the market on bullying.

The Democrats who now control Congress are no doubt eager to help their friends in labor, but this tactical maneuver sends a disappointing message about fair play and ought to be beneath them. More importantly, it does nothing to help those with blue collars who are getting lost in an economy that grows increasingly hostile to their lives.

[Last modified February 27, 2007, 23:39:50]