Anchorage Daily News

On Thursday, Vince Beltrami, the head of Alaska's largest labor organization, took me to task in his column for my opposition to the so-called "Card Check" bill in Congress.

The "Card Check" bill is an assault on a worker's right to make a free and private decision about whether to join a union. I support all workers casting their ballots privately. Mr. Beltrami's bill requires them to vote in public.

Our freedom in elections is protected by the anonymity of citizens casting a ballot in private. Ballot box privacy is sacred and essential to democracy and human dignity. Tyranny would prevail if we went to our local polling station and the kingpins in the neighborhood stood around, handed you the ballot, and asked you to cast it in front of them. Coercion and undue pressure would be overt and commonplace.

Now, imagine voting in your workplace with a limited circle of people, many of whom, if not all, know each other. People walk around with cards asking you to sign to join the union, and you have the choice to decline or sign. No privacy, no free democracy. Do you think there's pressure in that or do you feel completely free to vote your conscience? The answer is plain.

Incredibly, Don Young was one of just a small handful of Republicans to join Nancy Pelosi and the liberals in Congress in stripping away workers' right to privacy in voting. Now, Mr. Beltrami's union has endorsed Young's reelection campaign, along with endorsing liberal Democrat Ethan Berkowitz. It should be telling to voters that this special-interest group sees no difference between the positions of Mr. Young and Mr. Berkowitz. I think Alaskans deserve a more conservative choice.

I will always stand up for workers, whether they choose to join a union or to work in a non-union workplace. I will stand up for each worker's right to privacy in choosing whether to join a union.

Card check legislation is not about whether one supports unions or non-union workplaces. It's about supporting freedom for Alaskans.

Sean Parnell is lieutenant governor of Alaska and a Republican candidate for the U.S. House.

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