Cingular wireless workers joined union via card check

[Enrique]

the workers did not have a secret ballot.

Why was there no outrage from any quarter? I thought the workers are entitled to a secret ballot which "supersedes everything!"

No, the workers' supposed "right" to a secret ballot began when the right wing started its propaganda campaign.

http://www.workforce.com/section/00/article/24/37/60.php

May 19, 2006

Cingular Wireless Approaches Union as a Strategic Partner

During the past six months, 18,000 Cingular Wireless employees have joined the Communication Workers of America union. In the most recent quarter, Cingular achieved the best financial results in its history.

Lew Walker, Cingular vice president of human resources for operations and labor, believes there's a connection between the two. The company remained neutral while a majority of workers authorized union representation by signing cards. The result, according to the company, is engaged employees who are focused on customer service and building the Cingular network rather than nursing grudges against management.

"We view the CWA as a strategic partner," Walker said at an event at the Center for American Progress, a Washington, D.C., think tank, on May 18. "What's good for Cingular is good for CWA."

That attitude undergirds negotiations on wages, benefits and work rules, according to Walker.

[KamaAina]

1. Under the present system, Cingular could have forced an election anyway

and kicked an anti-union intimidation blitz into high gear beforehand. They chose not to do that, but many other employers fight it to the bitter end.

Of note: Cingular was bought out by AT&T later that year. Fortunately (per Wiki), nothing happened to the CWA.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AT%26T_Mobility

A large number of AT&T Mobility employees are unionized, belonging to the Communications Workers of America. The CWA represented roughly 15,000 of the previous 20,000 formerly AT&T Wireless employees as of early 2006. As of the end of 2007, the CWA website claims roughly 40,000 workers of AT&T Mobility are represented by the union. Phew!

edit: Wiki