A top Democratic goal in recent years has been passage of the 'Employee Free Choice Act,' also known as Card Check. The measure would end the secret ballot system by which workers currently choose whether or not to unionize. Instead it would allow unionization based on the majority of a shop's workforce signing cards in public -- allowing pressure to be brought by coworkers and union officials. Democrats and unions figure that passage of Card Check will dramatically expand union ranks, coffers, and influence.
However as Samantha pointed out here yesterday, a new series of polls shows that card check is opposed by a majority of voters in several key swing states:
Now comes some evidence that Democrats do the bidding of Big Labor at their political peril. McLaughlin & Associates, a well-regarded GOP polling group, has conducted a survey for a business group, Coalition for a Democratic Workplace, in the battleground states of Minnesota, Colorado, and Maine. The results (according to the press release) show that large majorities of voters in Colorado (68%), Maine (72%), and Minnesota (65%) oppose the EFCA... To boot, at least 80% of voters in all three states believe that secret ballot elections are the cornerstone of democracy and should be retained for union elections.
A little while back Chris Bowers of Open Left -- one of the brighter minds on the Left -- listed Card Check as one of the important systemic reforms that would help liberals push a progressive agenda. If Democrats gain control of the White House and Congress, it's sure to be one of the first pieces of legislation to come to a vote.
But this poll shows how unpopular Card Check is with ordinary voters. And while 'Card Check' or 'Employee Free Choice Act' may sound too abstract to form the basis of an effective attack ad, those phrases obscure the real issue: the right of a worker to vote on unionization without his boss or coworkers knowing how he voted. Democrats always claim to be for privacy, until it conflicts with the power of union bosses.
