Card Check

The right of people to lawfully unionize should not be impinged, and neither should their right to privacy.  I think we would all find it very unsettling to consider a law that allows political operatives to stand over the shoulder of a voter.  For the same reason, I find it very unsettling to think of a union boss standing over the shoulder of a worker filling out his or her union ballot.

Card Check is a transparent attempt by labor unions to strong arm employees into supporting them.
Union membership has dropped precipitously in the preceding decades for two main reasons:

• First, sectors that traditionally employed union labor have been in general decline as America has moved from a manufacturing to a service-oriented economy.

• Second, the nature of the workplace is less conducive to union membership in that very few people work at the same factory for decades, as they did from the 1930s through the 1980s.

As a union member myself, I understand and support the right of laborers to freely associate, organize and engage in collective bargaining.  As a strong supporter of the First Amendment and the right to privacy, I also believe that each American is entitled to an opinion that he can choose to share or not share.

Card Check, in its essence, would remove from every employee the ability to vote their conscience without the oversight of a union boss.  Should individuals choose to lawfully unionize, so be it.  But they should be able to make that decision without undue influence from someone who stands to gain from their support.  Your election vote and mine are private, and I refuse to take that same right from employees.