MIDLAND, Mich. — The Mackinac Center for Public Policy’s director of labor policy, Steve Delie, testified today in front of the U.S. House Committee on Education and the Workforce, Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions. Delie discussed tactics labor unions use to undermine free and fair elections in the workplace and what federal policy can do to protect workers.

One of the most popular tactics unions use to drive support is a process known as card check. Union organizers hand workers cards to sign as a way to indicate support for the union. Workers are typically asked to sign these cards in front of organizers, adding an extra layer of pressure when a vote is done publicly. Some unions have intimidated workers who may be reluctant to sign, showing up at people’s homes and threatening a worker’s family.

As Delie explains in his testimony, a better way to ensure that an election is fair and workers are free from intimidation is to use secret ballots in union elections. Just as voters are given privacy when selecting their elected officials, workers should be protected when voting on unionization.

Some states have already begun protecting the right to a secret ballot, including Tennessee, Alabama, and Georgia. These states recently enacted legislation guaranteeing secret ballot protections for workers at any company that receives state subsidies. These reforms were championed by the Mackinac Center’s national Workers for Opportunity project.

It has been repeatedly shown that workers vote much differently when they are free from union pressure. The United Auto Workers claimed a majority of Mercedes-Benz workers in Alabama signed cards supporting unionization, but just last week workers privately voted against the union by a large margin.

Unions also use neutrality agreements in conjunction with corporate smear campaigns. Neutrality agreements silence employers and prevent employees from hearing all the facts regarding unionization, hindering workers’ ability to make a fully informed decision. Unions pressure employers into signing these agreements through corporate campaigns that seek to harm a business’ reputation through outside means.

“Every worker deserves the right to make a private, uncoerced, fully informed decision about whether to unionize their workplace,” said Delie. “Federal labor laws should be amended so that workers can be protected from the coercive tactics that attempt to influence their decisions."

Watch the full hearing here. Read the full testimony here.