Washington- Congressman Joe Pitts (PA-16) has signed on as an original cosponsor of legislation introduced today that will preserve the secret ballot for American workers.  The bill, called the Secret Ballot Protection Act, guarantees the right to a secret ballot to workers deciding whether to unionize.

Congressman Pitts’ statement follows:

“The secret ballot is a fundamental principle of American democracy.  The notion that taking away the protection of the secret ballot somehow makes a process more fair is pure fantasy.  If individuals want to join a union, that is fine—they can show their support with their vote.  But if workers do not want to pay union dollars to be used to advance a political agenda they disagree with, they should also be afforded the same right to cast their vote free of coercion.”

Background

The Secret Ballot Protection Act protects the rights of workers to have secret ballot elections when determining whether to form a union. It prevents unionization based solely on “card check,” a process that requires only a simple majority of worker signatures on cards without any privacy in order to unionize a workplace. The Secret Ballot Protection Act also bars recognition of a union that was formed without a secret ballot election.

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