While these measures are likely preempted anyway by the National Labor Relations Act, the AFL-CIO and its friends over at the UFCW are gloating over the fact that they won a victory (in principle) in taking away workers’ right to a secret-ballot election:
Opponents of the Employee Free Choice Act were dealt a blow June 30 when an Arizona state court judge struck down as unconstitutional a proposed state constitutional amendment that sought to restrict how workers can vote in union representation elections.
Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Robert Oberbillig granted an injunction sought by Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 99 to prevent Proposition 108 from appearing on the ballot in November. The proposition, which was backed by the anti-union group Save our Secret Ballot (SOS Ballot), would have required secret ballots in all union elections and elections for public office. Employee Free Choice Act opponents wrongly claim the legislation would take away the right to a secret ballot election for union representation. In fact, the act would give workers—not employers—the option to choose whether to vote on union representation by signing union authorization cards.
It’s interesting to note that even the AFL-CIO’s headline notes the opposition to secret ballots [“Secret Ballot Measure Unconstitutional”].
Read more at the AFL-CIO.
