The Congress of The United States of America is stepping right in the middle of it again!! These people just do not get it. They are in DC for the People of the country not the unions or interest groups! I am so sick and tired of this. They want to change the way unions are voted in or out at the work places of the country. They want to take away the secret ballot form the employee and let a petition carry the weight of an election with secret ballots. How screwed up is that? Well I can tell you in my own words and here it is. (this a copy of an email sent to my congresswoman)

Please vote against any change in the way unions are voted for. I have personal experience in this matter. If the change which is being discussed is passed it will have an adverse effect for employees and their right to represent themselves or to have a union represent them. This change will be true "voter disenfranchisement". I realize we are not talking about a government election but this will have an impact that can not be understood by any one who has not experienced it themselves. I have been through this and this is my story.

Back in 2000 I worked in a union shop in Orlando, FL. it had been a union shop for around 16 years. Some of the employees had been in that union for 20+ years. Well after being in that union shop for 3 years myself I wanted to know what the union had done for me? We would see our union rep. once a year or so. He never even had the thought to bring us a doughnut or a thank you. He was given a brand new car every two years and did not do only one thing for us; contract trims which we were always told this was the best offer and to vote for it. We had a driver who had a small stroke and would not be able to drive for a year. The union told our company to fire him because he had other drivers in the union hall and it was not his problem that this driver could not drive for a year. Well the company kept the driver as a yard man and at his driver pay for the year. When he passed the DOT physical they put him back to work as driver. So as I said the union had done nothing of value for me.

So I educated myself and found out what I need to do too get rid of the union. I started the petition to bring the union to a vote at the end of the current contract. Well I had to get 25% of the shop to sign this petition. It was not easy but I did it. Many of the old timers let me know their feelings of disapproval. This made work a hard place to be for some time. But the NLRB rules require that the petition be made available for all employees and even the union it’s a matter of public record. The vote itself would be by secret ballot. This is the only for this to be done. You will get people to sign this petition even if they oppose it just to make there life at work easy. I was very uneasy for the 2-3 months before the vote as were the others who signed the petition.

So one week before the vote the union president and a few others from the national office arrived in town. They came to every employees home and told them what the union would do for them and how they would protect them, while letting them know that not voting for the union would be a mistake and unacceptable.

Well as it turned out when the day for the vote came not ONE not ONE person voted for the union to stay and represent us. Not even the shop steward voted for the union. When the union president looked at the steward he was given the BIRD! This is true and as it proves what people say and do is not always the something. The secret ballot ensures that you can vote the way you really feel with out fear!

The next day we were given a pay raise, 401K and 2 more sick days per year. The only reason this happened was because the vote was a secret vote, not a letter of intent. It was hard enough to get the required amount of signatures. I do not believe I could have gotten one more signature.

This change will truly be a gift to the unions. It will not be good for the employee or the employer. The unions will be the only benefactor and in return the democrats and republicans who push this through for them will be rewarded by the unions.Why the push for the change now? Why is this change needed? Why the push for the working men and women to have this right to vote in the form of a secret ballot taken from them? Does the congress think that the working men and women of this country are in need of this change? Does the congress think that they are smarter than the people who pay their salaries? Where does the congress get the nerve to say you are not entitled to the right to vote in secret when it is not there life and there job? Why is this right in jeopardy? Is it because the 2008 elections are around the corner and the currant congress needs more funds from the union?

Please protect the working men and women of this country let them keep this right. Let them vote the way they wish. This is not about being be pro-union or anti-union this is about the right. If the vote is a secret ballot and the union get’s in then fine or if it get’s voted out fine. At least the odds are that this was the true desire of the employee and not an action taken out of fear. If this change is approved this will lead to Sad days here in the United States of America.