Labor judge overturns union election at Target

[Jim Lane]

11. Meanwhile, though, that Target store went the last year without a union.

The election in which Target violated the law was in June 2011. Now it will be rerun.

This is why I've reluctantly come to favor card check. Card check is a bad idea because, where there's a dispute about unionization, the decision should be made by the workers in a free and fair election. The trouble is that "free and fair election" is not our current system.

If we were adjudicating cases like this one much more quickly, and putting real teeth into the rules concerning unfair labor practices, then workers could get free choice without card check. Card check would take away free choice from some workers but not as many as does the current system.