UNIONS  (CONT)

Don Stewart, a spokesman for the Senate Republican leader, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, derided the bill's name, the Employee Free Choice Act, as "Orwellian," asserting that labor organizers sometimes intimidated workers into signing pro-union cards.

In vowing to squelch the bill, Mr. McConnell said, "We went to the secret ballot in this country almost 200 years ago because everyone believed that the only way to have a ballot that really counted was if somebody was not looking over your shoulder."

The bill's supporters note that federal labor officials have long accepted majority sign-ups as an alternative to elections. Indeed, the supporters argue that majority sign-ups are usually fairer than secret-ballot elections, maintaining that workers often feel intimidated by their employers during unionization drives and so are fearful of losing their jobs.

"All those folks who are talking about democracy," Mr. Sweeney said, "are really folks concerned with keeping the labor movement from growing and becoming stronger."

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