Frequently Searched

Academic Transparency

Civil Forfeiture

Critical Race Theory

Right to Try

School Choice

Judge upholds Arizona anti-card check law

October 30, 2014
by Outside Author

By Sean Higgins | Washington Examiner

Federal district court Judge Frederick Martone dismissed a challenge Wednesday to an Arizona law which only allows workplace organizing through a federally monitored secret ballot election. The case was filed against the state by the National Labor Relations Board.
 
The ruling was a defeat for organized labor because it furthered opened the door for other states to adopt laws that would prevent so-called union “card check”elections. Big Labor has pushed Congress and the Obama administration to allow card check nationally but the effort stalled in 2010.
 
Card check would radically simplify union elections by replacing the standard NLRB-monitored election with what amounts to a petition drive. Card check can currently be used only with the agreement of the employer. The proposal in Congress would have stripped employers of the ability to object. Unions favored it because they thought it would swell their ranks. Big Business opposed it for similar reasons.
 
The Arizona law, called the Secret Ballot Amendment, was first drafted by the conservative Goldwater Institute. It rules out card check in virtually all circumstances. The state adopted the law in 2010, along with South Dakota, South Carolina and Utah.
 
Last year, the NLRB, a federal agency whose members are appointed by the White House and Congress, sued Arizona to block the law. Business groups have alleged that the NLRB has leaned pro-labor under President Obama.
 
The NLRB’s lawsuit alleged the state was encroaching on it’s role as enforcer of the National Labor Relations Act. It further argued that the law stripped Arizonans of union rights because it ruled out a  card check election even if the employer agreed to it.
 
“In today’s ruling, the Court has reined in the NLRB’s aggressive actions promoting unions and opposing the rule of law,” said Goldwater Institute President Darcy Olsen, in a statement. “This decision affirms the Goldwater Institute’s strategy of harnessing the power of state constitutions against federal overreach.”
 
The NLRB countered that the court had left open the possibility of future litigation.
 
“Our objective from the beginning was to ensure that employees protected by our law continue to have the same options for choosing representation that they have always had,” said NLRB Chairman Mark Gaston Pearce. “Although we continue to believe that a preemption finding should have been made, we are very pleased that the court recognized that these choices are guaranteed to employees by federal law and cannot be taken away by the states.”
 

 

 

More on this issue

Donate Now

Help all Americans live freer, happier lives. Join the Goldwater Institute as we defend and strengthen freedom in all 50 states.

Donate Now

Since 1988, the Goldwater Institute has been in the liberty business — defending and promoting freedom, and achieving more than 400 victories in all 50 states. Donate today to help support our mission.

We Protect Your Rights

Our attorneys defend individual rights and protect those who cannot protect themselves.

Need Help? Submit a case.
Join our pro-bono attorney network.

Get Connected to Goldwater

Sign up for the latest news, event updates, and more.

Wait! Don’t close this yet!

We are grateful for your support of the Goldwater Institute’s efforts to advance and defend liberty throughout the United States. For over 36 years, we’ve been defending the rights of Americans to live their lives free from government interference.

And Goldwater is unique in that we direct our efforts to the 50 states where we introduce and advance innovative ideas that expand freedom. And we fight in courtrooms and capitals nationwide to defend individual liberty.

In 2024 alone, we scored over 50 policy and litigation victories defending liberty!

And that’s just the beginning.

Our plans for 2025 include:

  • Stopping pernicious DEI and other woke programs in America’s universities.
  • Ensuring that patients suffering from rare and terminal diseases have access to cutting-edge, lifesaving medical treatments, without having to first seek permission from the government.
  • Defending parental rights across the United States so that parents can send their kids to the school that best fits their needs, free from leftist indoctrination.
  • Eliminating government interference in the fundamental right of individuals to own property and use it as they see fit.
  • And much, much more

We seek to restore the presumption of liberty; that people are free to act without first asking permission from the government.

But we cannot do this without you. Will you join us as we fight to preserve and advance liberty throughout the country? As we seek new and innovative ways to defend freedom in all 50 states?

And there’s great news: Thanks to a generous Goldwater supporter, your donation today will be doubled!

So please, join us in fighting to advance liberty and score real wins for freedom from coast to coast!

Donate Now