Via Ben Smith, labor has begun its major PR push on the Employee Free Choice Act, otherwise known as card-check.

This is a piece of legislation to keep your eye on. Democrats came to power in 2006 promising to push through a card-check system for union organizing but were turned back by Republicans. Since Obama has said he will sign the bill, and since Democrats are expected to increase their majority in both chambers, the Employee Free Choice Act could be a huge win for big labor.

Over at OpenLeft, the link above, Michael Whitney explains what the Act is:

Why is the Employee Free Choice Act so important? People are struggling in this country. Today's workplaces are tilted in favor of lavishly-paid CEOs, who get golden parachutes while middle-class families struggle to get by.

The Employee Free Choice Act can restore the balance, giving more workers a chance to form unions and get better health care, job security, and benefits - and an opportunity to pursue their dreams. When more workers are in unions, our economy can be strong again.

Actually, nevermind. Whitney doesn't explain what the Act is at all, and there might be a reason for that. Beneath all the rhetoric about restoring balance, fixing the middle class and giving working the chance to unionize is this simple fact: The ironically named Employee Free Choice Act would actually take away workers' right to secret ballots. In its place there would be what is known as a card check, which is simply a card a worker signs -- in front of everyone -- voicing their desire to unionize.

Of course if you can't understand why any worker wouldn't want to unionize, then card check simply expedites the process by doing away with bygone conventions like a secret ballot. If, however, you think that there could be some workers out there who don't want to unionize, but might just be a little afraid to publicly state this in front of their pro-union buddies, then doing away with the secret ballot is nothing less than stripping them of their rights. It's too bad that those in favor of card check like Whitney have to hide what it really is.

And there's a reason labor is pushing so hard for it. According to the Washington Post, union membership has declined from 20% of the nation's workforce in 1983 to 12% today. Labor knows secret ballots aren't helping the process. Its solution, endorsed by Democrats, is to get rid of them altogether and institute the card check, which, no matter what you call it, is a far less democratic way of organizing.

UPDATE: Michael Whitney responds:

The Employee Free Choice Act takes away veto power from CEOs and gives employees the free choice about whether to join a union. When a majority of people in a workplace say they want a union, they should get a union. That's democracy. That's what the Employee Free Choice Act does.

When people try to form a union now, they're met with virtually unregulated resistance from anti-union companies who don't want to treat their workers with respect. The Employee Free Choice Act restores the balance in the workplace, where almost every scale is tipped against people who just want to have a voice at work.

(Correction: The original post mistakingly, and inexcusably, referred to the Employer Free Choice Act, instead of the Employee Free Choice Act. Thanks to Michael Whitney for pointing this out.)