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Argument: Employers have been pressured to "voluntarily" adopt card-checking
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"Editorial: Keep secret union ballots". The Grand Rapids Press Editorial Board. 24 Aug. 2008 - "[The Secret Ballot Protection Act] bill is needed to correct an anomaly in American labor law that unions have exploited in recent years. The concepts of employee free choice and majority rule in the selection of bargaining representatives are codified in the National Labor Relations Act. But case law incongruously leaves it up to employers to determine whether employees may make a choice about union representation through a government-sponsored secret ballot election.
Over the past decade, unions have increasingly taken advantage of this loophole to pressure employers into signing “neutrality/card check agreements” (“neutrality agreements”). Under a typical neutrality agreement, an employer agrees in advance to recognize a union when the union submits signed authorization cards from a simple majority of employees in the appropriate unit. An authorization card on its face signifies an employee’s desire for representation by the union. The problem, however, is that such authorization cards are frequently obtained by union organizers or supporters by misrepresentation, peer pressure, harassment, intimidation, and even coercion or forgery. Neutrality agreements themselves are frequently achieved by exerting economic pressure against an employer and its suppliers, customers, and bankers. This pressure may include such unsavory tactics as filing frivolous administrative charges and lawsuits, inciting community groups and leaders, and stirring up bad publicity."
