Are the Democrats anti-democratic?
If not, why are they planning to ban secret ballots for union elections?
Senate Democratic leaders moved Tuesday to force a vote on organized labor’s top legislative priority, a bill that would make it far easier to organize workers. But Republican leaders vowed to kill the measure, voicing confidence that they could defeat a motion cutting off debate and bringing it to a vote this week.
The bill, already approved by the House but facing the threat of a veto by the Bush administration, would give employees at a workplace the right to unionize as soon as a majority signed cards saying they wanted to do so. Under current law, an employer can insist on a secret-ballot election, even after a majority sign.
Union leaders see enactment of the bill as the single most important step toward reversing labor’s long-term loss of membership and might. Virtually all Democrats in Congress are backing the legislation, partly because they recognize that a stronger labor movement, providing campaign contributions and volunteers, could translate into a stronger Democratic Party.
Secret ballots are a cornerstone of true democracy; we have them to prevent intimidation and guarantee honest votes. That doesn't seem to matter to the Democrats and their Big Labor contributors, however, who are more concerned with building their little empires.
Union membership has been declining for decades, as the economy moved away from a heavy-industrial model and corporate management learned that treating your workers well resulted in labor peace without having to deal with ever-increasing union demands. This move is nothing more than a desperate attempt by union bosses to force workers to join, whether they see it in their interests or not. And to call it the "Employee Free Choice Act" is something straight out of 1984.
I'm not against labor unions, far from it. They have a legitimate role protecting workers, as long as those workers want that representation. This is nothing more than corporatist gangsterism, worthy of a Mussolini or Lenin.
LINKS: Captain Ed presents some very interesting numbers showing Big Labor donations to key Senate Democrats. Blue Crab Boulevard thinks Harry Reid has a problem with democracy.
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