Catherwood LibraryILR School

Arizona, South Carolina, South Dakota and Utah will ask residents to vote on a measure that would require a secret ballot election for workers trying to unionize. While federal law already allows employers to require a secret ballot election, the states are trying to pre-empt the effect that the Employee Free Choice Act will have if passed. That legislation would allow unionization if the majority of employees signed a card. Unions say that the Act is necessary because employers intimidate workers and exploit the process. Employers say that the law would make it easy for unions to pressure workers into joining. No one is sure which law would take precedence if both were passed, meaning that the debate will likely end up in court.