The right to a private ballot is the foundation of our Republic.  For centuries, Americans-regardless of race, creed, or gender-have fought to expand voting rights and to maintain the sanctity of the secret ballot.  Recently in Washington, the House Majority voted to strip this basic freedom from workers in Oklahoma and the rest of America.

I have always believed that every American worker should have the right to a secret ballot vote in the workplace.  This bill kills secret voting rights altogether and makes workers' votes public through a mandatory card check.  A mandatory card check would allow union bosses to gather authorization cards purportedly signed by workers expressing their desire for a union to represent them.  These card checks deny workers their right to choose-freely and anonymously-whether to unionize.  Card checks make workers' personal votes known to their co-workers, their union organizers and their employers, and card checks notoriously leave workers open to coercion, pressure, and outright intimidation and threats.

Union membership is down to 12 percent nationwide and just 7 percent in the private sector.  This bill is "Big Labor's" last attempt to retain power and slow down the trend of declining union membership numbers.  A recent public opinion survey conducted by a respected national polling firm indicates strong opposition to worker intimidation by labor union or employers.  This trend crosses political lines and the misguided legislation is equally opposed by Democrat and Republican voters alike.  Amongst unionized households themselves, a remarkable 80 percent say they are opposed to this bill and 75 percent say they would be less likely to vote for a Member of Congress who voted to take away their right to a secret ballot.

I support the right of workers to organize if that is their true desire, but I am strongly opposed to mandatory union membership as a condition of employment as well as strong-arm tactics that intimidate or otherwise coerce workers into joining a labor union against their will.

Thomas Paine once said, "Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must undergo the fatigue of supporting it."  For literally hundreds of years Americans have fought for the freedom to vote and to keep that vote private.  Now, just months after the November elections where 435 Members of Congress were elected by secret ballots, the new majority has voted to deny that right to the rest of the American work force.  What could be more undemocratic than that?

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