Labor Elections: Good for Workers?

The representation election is the hallmark of our labor law. Workers vote by secret ballot about whether or not they want union representation; if a majority votes yes, the union is certified by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), and collective bargaining begins. It all seems very democratic, and almost beyond questioning.

Yet the law has come under heavy fire in recent years. “We have to ask,” David Sickler, the AFL-CIO West Coast regional director, began a recent...