October 7, 2008
Union Leader
In New Hampshire politics, there are artful dodgers, and then there is Jeanne Shaheen, who is in a class by herself.
For months, Shaheen has been going to extraordinary lengths to avoid answering questions about nuclear power, drilling for oil and other important issues. There is one question, though, that she has made a special point of clouding up: Does she or does she not think federal law ought to require secret ballot elections for unionization votes?
There is legislation waiting in Washington to strip workers of the right to hold secret ballot elections when deciding whether to form a union. Right now, if employees want to decide whether to unionize, the law requires that they vote in secret, just as we do for our government elections. Obviously, this protects employees from being intimidated or punished for their votes. The so-called Employee Free Choice Act would change that. It would require union certification if more than 50 percent of a company’s employees sign cards saying they want to join a union.
What’s wrong with this picture? You don’t sign the cards in private, of couse. As Sen. John Sununu said Monday in explaining his opposition to the bill, signing a card “is a public act.” It therefore means “you are subject to intimidation.” Not only that, but retalliation, too.
What is Shaheen’s position? She says workers ought to have “choice.” She frames her support for this bill by claiming that it gives workers an option: unionize by secret vote or by card check.
Of course, to provide this “choice,” Shaheen would revoke a right — the right to a secret ballot.
Imagine if this same logic were applied to all elections. What if campaign workers carrying clipboards that list your name, address, place of employment, children’s schools, etc., were allowed to corner you at work or on your front porch or as you’re dropping off your kids and pressure you to publicly sign a card expressing your choice for governor or Congress or President? What if your neighbors, your boss, your government all knew how you voted? Staring at six aggressive campaign workers, perhaps including government employees, would you feel free to say, “No thanks, men who know all of my personal information; I choose to vote behind the curtain”?
This is no choice. It’s the loss of a right. And Jeanne Shaheen thinks that’s just fine. Do you?