Former Democratic Congressional candidate and liberal political talk show host Cenk Uygur talked to the Huffington Post about the unionization efforts of the employees at his digital media company The Young Turks:
IATSE has asked TYT management to voluntarily recognize the union through “card check,” saying a clear majority of staffers who would be represented have signed union cards. That has often been the course at liberal media organizations, so staff can avoid the pressures of a union election. IATSE would represent the production and post-production staff ― about a quarter of the company’s 65-employee workforce.
But TYT management has proposed having the workers vote in a secret-ballot election to be administered by a third party, outside the National Labor Relations Board. Management has also disputed the union’s proposed bargaining unit, saying some of the employees should be considered managers. Uygur told HuffPost he wants a secret-ballot election because a few employees told him after the meeting that they do not support a union ― “some, not all,” he said. Am I supposed to say, ‘I don’t care what you want?’” he said. “That’s crazy.”
This interested me, because most Congressional Democrats support passing the Employee Free Choice Act, which would enable the employees of a company to unionize through a “card check” process, without a secret-ballot election. So my question is, has Cenk Uygur discussed his views either on the Employee Free Choice Act in general or on the specific issue of abolishing the secret ballot in union elections?
Now Uygur hasn’t been a politician long, but he has an extensive media career, so has he discussed this issue at all?
