Secret Ballot Protection Act

What's So Important About A Secret Ballot?

As Americans, we cannot take the right to vote by secret ballot for granted. We know that a secret ballot guarantees we won't be coerced into voting for someone or something that we don't want. When forming a union, a secret ballot election ensures that workers are not responding to union or employer coercion. Unions should be formed by the free choice of workers, not in response to any pressure tactics.

Preserving Workers' Secret Ballot Rights

Because it is so important to preserve secret ballot elections for workers, Sen. Jim DeMint and 17 other senators have introduced the Secret Ballot Protection Act (SBPA). This legislation would guarantee the right of workers to have a secret ballot when voting on the question of unionization. Whether or not to form a union is a big decision that affects every aspect of a worker's job; it's important to have the option to decide this by secret ballot.

Why Do We Need This Legislation?

Passage of this legislation is needed because workers' rights are under attack. Union membership has been declining for decades and union bosses are doing all they can to make sure more union dues are flowing into their coffers. Over the past few years, unions and their allies in Congress have been trying to pass the so-called "Employee Free Choice Act." This bill would actually remove employees' free choice to choose whether or not to unionize by secret ballot. These anti-worker efforts have been defeated, but Big Labor isn't giving up the fight.

Voters in four states decided that they were going to act on their own to protect workers' rights and approved measures that ensured that workers would always have a secret ballot. The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), however, sent a threatening letter to these states saying that Federal law bans states from protecting their workers from union-pressure tactics.

With their defeat in Congress, Big Labor has turned to the NLRB to enact its agenda. The Board is doing its part, as its letter to the states shows. President Obama is attempting to pack the NLRB with pro-labor appointees to further undermine workers' rights and let unions force more people into their ranks.

The Secret Ballot Protection Act will ensure that the NLRB can't pass any regulations to take away workers' secret ballot right and that any state wishing to protect this right can do so.

TAKE ACTION To Support Workers' Right to Vote by Secret Ballot

LINKS
Time For The NLRB To Put Aside The Nonsense
Electronic Voting Would Lead To Forced Unionization
Obama Administration's Small Business Policies Are Nothing To Cheer About