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I had the privilege to testify in May before the United States House Subcommittee on
Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions. The subcommittee got a chance to hear Mackinac Center perspectives on union tactics that undermine free and fair elections in the workplace.
For decades, unions have attacked workers’ right to choose whether to join a union through a secret ballot election. Unions can organize workplaces through two different approaches: secret ballot elections or a process known as “card check.”
A secret ballot election is what it sounds like — workers make a private choice about unionization, free of outside influence. Card check, on the other hand, exposes workers todeception, intimidation and coercion.
Under card check, a union organizer asks workers, often in front of peers, to sign a card to publicly support the union. This creates subtle pressure, as workers may choose to sign a card to avoid offending the organizer. In many cases, workers who have yet to sign face constant harassment by union officials, some of whom make multiple visits to workers’ homes to solicit signatures. But the unfair pressure doesn’t stop there.
Card check allows unions to go well beyond mere pressure and into outright coercive behavior. In one instance, a signature gatherer threatened a worker by saying the union would come after her children and slash her tires. Another union official threatened to report a migrant worker to immigration officials. But not all unsavory tactics are so direct. Unions often misrepresent the impact of signing a card, suggesting that it is merely a request for an election rather than a de facto vote for union representation.
Unions aggressively pursue card check even if it means denying employees a vote. To avoid a secret ballot, unions often pressure employers to enter so-called neutrality agreements. While styled as an agreement by an employer to stay neutral during union elections, these agreements bar employers from discussing their perspective on unionization. This deprives employees of key information they need to make a fully informed decision.
Not all employers enter into these agreements willingly, in which case unions frequently turn to a coercive tactic known as a corporate campaign. Essentially, these are public relations campaigns designed to put social pressure on employers to force them to accept neutrality agreements.
For unions, these campaigns are a zero- sum game. One Grand Rapids-area union official said the success of a campaign could be measured “in one of two ways: either a ratified, signed collective bargaining agreement with a previously nonunion employer or a significant curtailment of a nonunion operator’s business, including shutting the business down.” Shutting down a business might be in the union’s interest, but it does precious little for newly unemployed workers.
Yet another union tactic is known as “salting.” Salting occurs when a union sends one of its employees to sow discontent at a business it hopes to unionize. Salts are under no obligation to disclose that they are being paid by a union, leaving employers with little ability to counter this practice. Employers, meanwhile, are required to disclose the labor consultants they hire within 30 days.
This unfair advantage makes a difference. Workers United, the union responsible for organizing Starbucks franchises in New York, regularly engages in salting. Salts were used at the first Starbucks that unionized, and Workers United paid almost $2.5 million to 41 individuals as part of the campaign. This unfairness might be why 75% of Americans believe unions should be required to disclose salts.
Collectively, these tactics give unions an unfair advantage when attempting to organize workers. But workers deserve a free and fair choice about whether to join a union. The best way to ensure that workers can express their honest opinion about unionization is to require a secret ballot in union elections. This eliminates coercive tactics and lets workers make their true voices heard.
Thankfully, the Mackinac Center, through its Workers for Opportunity initiative, is at the forefront of protecting the American worker’s right to a secret ballot. Workers for Opportunity has played a key role in the passage of bills across the country that guarantee unions be elected by a secret ballot whenever a project receives state funding. In 2023, Tennessee was the first state in the nation to pass such a law, with Alabama and Georgia following this year. Workers for Opportunity will continue to push for the adoption of similar laws across the country.
It was my privilege to have been invited to share the Mackinac Center’s labor expertise with Congress. But there is more to be done to ensure that workers have the right to a truly free and fair choice about union elections. As we look forward, I am excited to continue advancing pro-worker policies that will drive a better future.
