Unions and Secret Ballots.

Hey Para, I agree with you on this subject! I have two sons who are union workers and some of the stories they tell are almost unbelievable about the union "bullies" who force voting to suit them. I think the only fair way is by secret ballot. My mother worked in a shoe factory that was almost like a "sweat shop" years ago. They weren't union and I used to believe strongly in unions. However, I have had mixed emotions about them over the last 30 or forty years. My first bad experience personally, happened when our business caught on fire and almost took me out of business. I was warned by union members that if I didn't use a union contractor to rebuild my building, the union would boycot and shut me down. So, I caved in and hired a union contractor. The irony of it was that not one of the union workers bought a service or product from me afterwards. I lost two good non-union customers and was made a fool of.

There is a place for unions in the workplace. In the past unions did a great amount of good to get the working conditions and pay improved for many of their members. To a certain extent that is still the same situation today, at least in some working environments. Just as all employers are not bad and ready to do the "wrong thing" by their employees, not all unions officials are bad and ready to do harm to a business and the emoloyer. There is a mixture on "good and bad" on both sides and that will always be the case when you live in a democracy. There will always be those few employers will attempt to take advantage of some of their employees, usually those who are lacking in education r kniowledge. At the same time there some employees will abuse the system and look for ways to do less work for much more money. A reasonable union official should be able to help work through those issues and just as there are some terrible union officials, there are also good ones. With regard to the secret ballots for anything and that includes election of union officials, strike action or whatever, it should be secret. Those of us who live in a democratic society have a secret ballot when we elect our politicians who make major decisions that affect our life and so it should be the same for the unions. It is true that many union officials are against the secret ballot, at least when it comes to union issues that is. That is part of the "siege mentality" where someone is almost paranoid they might lose face if the members vote against what the uniin recommends.

Ted, I'm going to try to bring back the old objective me you said you missed with this one...lol! I'm a firm believer in unions because I know first hand that without on there would be many workers working in less than good conditions for substandard wages and little or not benefits. How about I give you that there are some thugs among union leadership if you give me that there are also some thugs in management? Regarding the issue of the secret ballot, I have mixed feelings and I admit to being a bit confused. In my experience and those of people I've known the secret ballot would seem to benefit the unions simply because it was management who would try to bully people into not voting for a union and in some cases they'd get their way and then if they knew who had been in favor of unionizing those workers would be "in for it". I've also seen the other side when I worked for the USPS and there were two carriers who had chosen not to join the union and some of the carriers gave them a hard time about it. Not anything serious but they'd let them know now and then that they resented the fact that these guys were enjoying all the benefits fought for by the union but weren't dues paying members, which I guess is understandable. In our union, the union would still be required to fight for a carrier whether he or she was a member or not. I'm the first one to admit there are unions who make unreasonable demands, especially in tough economic times but having seen it from both sides I'll come down on the protection of those who do the real work every time over those in management who have never done the job but earn their high salaries and bonuses based on how much they can bully those who do. It really bothers me that some are trying to use the automakers requests for a bailout as a way to blame the union workers and get a step closer to busting the unions. I know there are those on the right who will say it's the "physical" workers' own faults they didn't go to college and learn how to do something else or that they didn't have the drive to start their own business, ya-da-ya-da, but the fact will always remain there will always be those who for what ever reason weren't suited for college or honestly weren't able to go to college and are better at doing manual labor such as jobs in construction, manufacturing, plumbing, etc. and we'll always NEED people to do these jobs. Many of the same people who are so against unions are also very anti-immigrant so does that mean they want our OWN people to do the jobs the illegal immigrants do for next to nothing without any union protection? Annie

I know of one union right now...the one that's trying to get into my son-in-law's workplace...that has got to be pro secret ballot considering the outright hostility and threats coming from management. It's been shocking, especially considering how tied our hands were when a union tried to organize the staff at the college I used to work for. I had to follow specific written mandates from the Board but apparently those rules don't apply to everyone. My son-in-law has received both written and oral threats from management in the areas of job security, hours, pay raises and benefits since the union first came on the scene. The only saving grace for any of the employees who may be interested in joining the union has been their ability to cast their votes from home, either over the phone or the internet. In this case perhaps force is coming from both sides but, either way, these guys are all vulnerable. I hope these union leaders and Obama aren't able to overturn secret balloting. You should have the right to make your choice known or keep it private.

No secret ballot, union vote passes, company comes after those who voted for the union in order to convince them to quit, union comes after those who voted against the union to get them to quit. No secret ballot, union vote fails, People voting for union get fired and people voting against get attacked by those voting for. Getting rid of secret ballots is good for only two groups: Union bosses who get their salary from union dues and democrat politicians who get their campaign funds from union dues.