WSJ Letter to the Editor: Georgia’s Secret Ballots and Union Hypocrisy

They have a history of pushing requirements for taxpayer incentives that they now claim are illegal.

A Letter to the Editor
Published in the Wall Street Journal
March 13, 2024
by F. Vincent Vernuccio, president of Institute for the American Worker

As Georgia prepares to protect workers’ right to a secret-ballot election, unions are trying a new tactic to scare other states away from following suit (“Georgia Fights The Big Labor Fix,” Review & Outlook, March 4). Unions and their media allies are loudly claiming that attaching a secret-ballot election requirement to taxpayer incentives violates federal labor law.

But unions routinely convince blue cities to attach so-called labor peace agreements to public contracts or financing for companies. These agreements can require companies to recognize unions by card check, foregoing a secret-ballot election even if workers want one. The agreements can also force companies to profess neutrality, meaning they won’t talk to their employees about what will happen if they allow the union to organize.

Unions are fine with conditions on taxpayer funding if it gives them an advantage. But they can’t credibly claim it’s wrong when states go the other direction and level the playing field for workers. More states should do what Georgia has done and put workers’ rights ahead of union demands.