President-elect Barack Obama’s chief of staff Rahm Emanuel declined to reassert Obama’s campaign promise to end the secret ballot in union organizing elections yesterday. The Wall Street Journal reports on Emanuel’s presentation to the WSJ CEO Council:
He was asked his views on the push by labor unions to allow workplaces to be organized with the signing of cards attesting to union support rather than a secret ballot. Mr. Emanuel declined to say whether the White House would support the legislation, but he said the unions are addressing the concerns of a middle class that has seen U.S. median income slide over the past eight years, while health care, energy and education costs have soared.
Only time will tell if Emanuel’s reluctance to address union organizing was just cowardice or an actual shift in policy. But considering that ending the secret ballot will both increase corruption and kill jobs let’s hope it was a policy change.
