Card-check union organizing <br> a blow to workers’ basic rights

The headline for this story (“Patrick signs bill expanding workers’ rights,” Sept. 27, www.pbn.com) is one of the most misleading I have ever seen.
In signing this bill, Gov. Deval L. Patrick didn’t just “expand workers’ rights,” he took away one of the most fundamental rights of workers enjoy today – the right to participate in a secret, private-ballot election.
Employees will now be forced to indicate their choice of whether to join a union by signing a card in front of their co-workers, employers and union organizers, opening the door to coercion and intimidation.
This “card check” system was tried more than 40 years ago, and was determined a failure. Governor Patrick signed this bill as a payoff to union bosses, who have seen their membership sink to all-time low of 12 percent.
Massachusetts voters should be outraged. Instead of taking away workers’ rights, Patrick should have considered how he was elected to office, by the private-ballot election process.