Union president says secret ballot best way to avoid coercion

In a letter to members Thursday, a major union president said that secret ballot elections were the best way to ensure that voters were “free from any coercive or disruptive circumstances.” The stance contradicts Big Labor’s push in recent years for so-called card check workplace organizing elections, which would largely do away with secret ballots.

Tom Buffenbarger, president of the 720,000-member International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, made the statement in a Boeing_letter.pdf”>Thursday letter to members of his union’s Seattle branch, District 751. The main purpose of the letter was to overrule a decision by District 751 leadership and order a Jan. 3 vote on a proposed Boeing contract.