October 23, 2008

The Honorable John Cornyn
U.S. Senate
517 Hart Senate Office Bldg.
Washington, D.C. 20510

Dear Senator Cornyn:

We urge you to protect the ability of American workers to choose whether or not to unionize through federally-supervised secret ballot elections. In particular, please oppose any legislation that includes the so-called card check scheme invented by union leaders to unfairly influence the process of unionization.

The card check process is fundamentally flawed because it eliminates the secret ballot which is the cornerstone of America's free and fair election process, inviting intimidation and coercion.

Instead of employee unions being formed after a secret ballot of all employees, card check allows a union to be formed when a majority of employees have signed cards supporting unionization. There is no secret ballot requirement, and the cards do not have to be signed at the workplace - they can even be signed online or in the presence of union leaders.

According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce:

Union leadership...has found secret ballot elections an impediment to organizing, preferring instead -card check procedures, where employees are forced to make their decision on the important question of unionization in front of union organizers. Although current law permits use of card check procedures in certain circumstances, the National Labor Relations Board and the Supreme Court, among others, have explicitly said that card checks are inferior to secret ballot elections as a method for discerning the true wishes of employees.i

Card check also fails to ensure that all workers get a voice in the process. Once a majority of workers sign authorization cards, the rest of the workers are forced to accept the decision-even if they have been left out of the process completely.

Trading the secret ballot process for one that invites intimidation and coercion and leads to widespread disenfranchisement of workers is not a step in the right direction. The 110th Congress has already seen two pieces of card check legislation, H.R. 800 and S. 1041, which proposed:

* Eliminating the federally-supervised secret ballot election and allowing card check to be introduced without the need for an employer to agree to the card check process.

* Removing the employer's right to decline unfavorable proposals during collective bargaining negotiations.

* Creating Unfair Labor Practice (ULP) fines of $20,000 per offense that could only be applied to employers.

Any of those proposals would have been detrimental to the U.S. business climate, placing greater power in the hands of union organizers, and removing democracy from the workplace.

Please oppose any card check that comes before Congress. The secret ballot is a right that should not be denied to American workers.

Sincerely,

State Representative Wayne Christian

House District 9 - Center

State Representative Ken Paxton

House District 70 - McKinney

State Representative Leo Berman

House District 6 - Tyler

State Representative Dan Flynn

House District 2 - Van

State Representative Larry Taylor

House District 24 - Friendswood

State Representative John Zerwas, M.D.

House District 28 - Richmond

State Representative Betty Brown

House District 4 - Terrell

State Representative Bill Callegari

House District 132 - Katy

State Representative Jim Jackson

House District 115 - Carrollton

State Representative Tan Parker

House District 63 - Flower Mound

State Representative Myra Crownover

House District 64 - Denton

State Representative Charlie Howard

House District 26 - Sugar Land

State Representative Kelly Hancock

House District 91 - North Richland Hills

i -EFCA Deprives Workers of Private Elections,‖ US Chamber of Commerce, Card Check Policy Paper, 2008. 

Click Here to view the Heritage Foundation report on Card Check.