The National Solid Wastes Management Association (NSWMA) has announced its opposition to legislation that it says will compromise workers’ rights to a federally supervised secret ballot election when deciding whether or not to join a union. According to an NSWMA press release, the Employee Free Choice Act, introduced by Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., would replace secret ballot elections with a process called “card check,” requiring a majority of workers to sign a card in the presence of union organizers to achieve union recognition. The identities of those who signed or refused to sign these cards would be made public, which NSWMA says leaves these individuals vulnerable to threats and intimidation from union bosses, management or both.

“Secret ballot elections are a cornerstone of the democratic process,” said NSWMA President and CEO Bruce Parker in the press release. “Workers deserve the right to make decisions free of any outside intimidation, whether from the union or management. NSWMA believes that the only way to guarantee worker protection is through the continued use of federally supervised secret ballot elections so that personal decisions about whether to join a union remain private.”