Dear Senator DeMint,

On behalf of more than 1.6 million Americans for Prosperity activists in all 50 states, I applaud you for reintroducing the Secret Ballot Protection Act of 2011 (S.217), a bill that amends the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) to ensure that the union organizing process includes a secret ballot. It is unfortunate that your legislation is even necessary; however, over the past few years union organizers have grown increasingly hostile to the current formation process. Their push to form unions using the card check process without a subsequent private ballot must be stopped.

The privacy of the ballot booth is a core American value. Allowing individuals to make their own decisions about their government and their workplace free from coercion from either side is paramount. We all instinctively know that this right must be preserved, which is why public outcry for its protection in union formation has been so strong.

Despite massive congressional majorities over the past two years, union lobbyists were unable to push through their card check legislation eliminating the secret ballot option. It seemed for a moment that the secret ballot was safe. However, this issue has once again surfaced. With four states passing state constitutional amendments requiring or guaranteeing the secret ballot step in union formation, a conflict has arisen between the state ballot protections and the federal NLRA statutory option. Your legislation would remove this conflict by amending the NRLA to codify what common sense already dictates: workers deserve the same protection in union elections as citizens do in political ones.

Still stinging from their legislative defeat, union lobbyists pressured President Obama to recess appoint SEIU and AFL-CIO Associate General Counsel Craig Becker to the National Labor Relations Board. The Senate was broadly opposed to Becker’s appointment, and he would never have been confirmed. Now that Becker has evaded congressional review, he is moving forward with a regulatory attempt to undermine the secret ballot process through Internet voting. This method of organization would be just as susceptible to undue influence as card check. There is nothing to stop organizers from coming to employees’ homes—something they already frequently do—and pressuring them to log on and vote to form a union. Workers deserve a private voting booth where they can make their decision without anyone hanging over their shoulder.

The current organizing process has two stages. First, organizers canvass a workplace and collect signatures on a card. If the organizers garner more than half of the employees’ signatures, they present the card to the employer. Second, the employer can either accept the union based on the signatures alone or they can call for a secret ballot election to confirm the results. Far too often union organizers pressure both workers to sign the card, and employers to forego the secret ballot option. Your bill would require that before a union is formalized, workers have a private opportunity—free from influence of both union organizers and employers—to vote for whether they want to form the union.

Unions remain an important and valuable part of workplace protections. However, they cannot maintain their position in our society through force and coercion. Unions should have to demonstrate their value to workers and legitimately allow workers to accept or reject that proposition. Your legislation goes a long way toward ensuring the NLRA protects those important values. I urge your colleagues to support your legislation and I look forward to working with you in the future.

Sincerely,

James Valvo
Director of Government Affairs
Americans for Prosperity

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