“Maintaining the secret ballot is the best way to protect workers’ privacy and to ensure workers have the ability to vote their conscience without fear of repercussion or retaliation,” Hawaii Governor Linda Lingle said in a statement upon her veto of Hawaii H.B. 2974 (a Big Labor-backed bill to replace Hawaii’s current law that requires an election by secret ballot when workers attempt to organize).
“There is no compelling justification for replacing a fair, democratic process with one that has the potential to erode a worker’s existing rights and protections under the law,” she continued.
Indeed, there isn’t.
The likelihood of this vastly unpopular legislation receiving a two-thirds majority in both chambers of the Legislature by May 1 to override the governor’s veto is slim, but we urge Hawaii’s Right to Work supporters to stand firm in their vocal opposition to this destructive legislation.