Secret ballot facts

It was disappointing to read the letter from Jon Williams, in which he repeated the big lie of corporate America, namely that the Employee Free Choice Act would eliminate the right to a secret ballot for workers who want to unionize ("We Need Reforms in Labor Law, But These Proposals Are Just Wrong," May 14). That is absolutely not true.

The proposed legislation maintains the secret ballot option and offers workers a choice between a secret ballot or majority sign-up. If a majority of workers sign cards saying they want a union, the National Labor Relations Board would be required to recognize the bargaining unit. On the other hand, the workers could opt for a secret ballot vote if one-third of the employees wanted that choice. Both options exist under current labor law.

The false assertion about the secret ballot by Mr. Williams was even more troubling because he pointed to his term decades ago as president of the Pittsburgh local of the Newspaper Guild as his credentials for making such a claim.

During my tenure as president of the Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh, CWA Local 38061, we organized a group of full-time professors at Point Park University. The college refused to bargain, even after it was ordered to do so by the National Labor Relations Board. Five years later, the case is still tied up in the legal morass of employer appeals, something the Employee Free Choice Act would resolve.

Bill George and Jack Shea, in their Perspectives piece ("Free Choice for All," May 6), provided a clear and lucid explanation of why American workers need the freedom the Employee Free Choice Act would provide.

 

MIKE BUCSKO

Executive Officer, Minnesota Newspaper Guild, CWA Local 37002

Minneapolis, Minn.