The history of Norm's EFCA lie

Sen. Norm Coleman (R-MN) keeps repeating the lie that the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) will do away with the secret ballot. It doesn't. It gives those who want to organize a union at their workplace several choices for how they want to ballot. It also has severe penalties for employers how harass, intimidate and interfere. Brian Melendez, DFL Party Chair, held a press conference yesterday to emphasize the point.

Melendez showed video of two separate examples (here and here) of Coleman continuing to lie about the Employee Free Choice Act and spreading a thoroughly debunked claim that China is drilling off the coast of Cuba.

However, I just remembered today that I'd heard Norm's EFCA lie before. More than a year ago. May 27, 2007 to be exact.

In his exchange with union members, Coleman repeated the incorrect canard that: This act takes away the right to a secret ballot.

Wrong. The Employee Free Choice Act does not take away the ballot-election process (which all-too often is controlled by the employer). The act would add another option, the majority sign-up process, in which workers seeking to form a union could sign cards indicating their desire to do so. Majority sign-up is much faster than the government-run balloting process and leaves less time for employers to harass and intimidate workers so they will back off from joining a union.

Watch the video and you’ll see how Coleman insists, over and over, the Employee Free Choice Act takes away the right to a secret ballot, despite union members telling him it does not.

Maybe he had only one talking point.
(AFL-CIO blog)