The Chamber of Commerce and Right-wing attack machine is in full court press against the Employee Free Choice Act, a bill with bipartisan support which would add penalties for wide-spread violations of the right of employees to join together.
The extreme Right objects to a provision of the EFCA dealing with "card check" procedures, a method of showing majority support for a union that was ruled constitutional by the Supreme Court in 1969. Currently an employer can challenge a "card-check" election for no cause. The Employee Free Choice Act would require illegal coercion or another cause before an employer could challenge the results of an election.
Chambers of Commerce and GOP'ers like Presidential hopeful John McCain say that card check organizing doesn't resemble American Democracy and insist that secret ballot elections are necessary to ensure workers have a democratic right to vote like in normal U.S. elections.
Ignoring for a moment that U.S. employees do not have the same rights at work that they have as citizens, lets give the GOP the benefit of the doubt and make union elections more democratic by simply holding secret ballot elections for employee organization on an annual basis.
This would be the Democracy that Americans are used to, not any of these "card check" signature drive elections, or requiring 30% of employees to petition before even holding a secret ballot election. The National Labor Relations Board should simply hold an election every year, just like the rest of the United States. Unions and other employee organizations like bowling leagues could be formed by secret ballot. This would eliminate the possiblity of being coerced into bowling even if you don't really like that sport and only do it to win points with your manager!
Possibly much of the time employees wouldn't bother to vote, just as many Americans never bother to vote. This kind of voter apathy is our constitutional right. Imagine if every year 30% of Americans had to sign a petition to hold an election....how often would we jump through that hoop? The elections still need to be held every year, just in case people do feel it necessary to vote.
So rather than debating if employees can show majority support for a union through card-check signature drives, work slowdowns, or by striking in front of an workplace, maybe Congress should add the much needed penalties for violations of labor law and make union elections an annual event to more closely mirror American Democracy.