Card-check legislation

Re: your May 20 article, "Farmworker's union bill divisive":

Both houses of the state Legislature just passed the card-check legislation. Under current law, the National Labor Relation Board sets up an election for a potential unionizing vote. The voting members vote by secret ballot, and they are counted by the NLRB. There is paper evidence of the results.

The card-check procedure is where the NLRB is left out and the organizing union sets up the election. The members voting hold up a colored card in front of all the other members. The union organizers then count the number of cards of the union color. There is no remaining evidence of the results. The union claims the results, and we are forced to believe them.

The right to privacy has now been stripped away from the worker. The union backers claim this will eliminate the potential threats and coercion from the employer.How can a worker be threatened during a secret ballot? He can't. The worker can be threatened after he votes openly with a card. If he votes against the union, he will be threatened by the union.

The whole purpose of card-check is to promote unions. The unions promote the Legislature and the Legislature promotes the unions. We all know which party controls this bankrupt state.

The unions say the bill would only apply to farm workers. For now, that is correct, but mark my word, this is a stepping stone to making card-check for all union workers in our bankrupt state of California in the future.

- Dennis Gaiser,