BY NOEL K. GALLAGHER

MaineToday Media, Inc.

Legislation that would allow organizers to unionize workplaces without secret-ballot elections has the potential to significantly shift the balance of power in the workplace, a fact being highlighted in Maine this summer by television ads and other marketing initiatives.

Currently, employers can require a secret ballot election, but under the Employee Free Choice Act, sometimes referred to as the "card-check" bill, employees could unionize as soon as they get a majority of workers to sign cards in favor of a union.

Supporters say the legislation will end what they call the unfair advantage of employers to dictate the method of deciding whether workers can unionize.

Opponents, though, say the change would take away workers' right to an anonymous vote.

This afternoon, a rally will be held in Monument Square in Portland from noon to 2 p.m. to protest the legislation, part of a cross-country series of rallies and voter registration drives by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Labor representatives, meanwhile, are trying to collect a million signatures nationally on a petition in favor of the bill.

Both labor officials and industry representatives claim that their primary interest is to protect workers from undue coercion or intimidation from the other side.

Employers require an election to buy time for anti-union efforts that are aimed at intimidating workers, said Stewart Acuff, assistant to the president of the AFL-CIO and the chief spokesman on the legislation. "It's not a right if you are afraid to exercise it." By contrast, a representative of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce says labor intimidates workers even now, and will even do so even more under the proposed law.

"People sign cards to just get the union organizer off their back," said Glenn Spencer, executive director of the U.S. Chamber's Workforce Freedom Initiative. "We think workers are smart enough to figure out on their own if they want to belong to a union."

Spencer, who is speaking at the Monument Square rally, said educating Mainers on the issue was particularly important to the U.S. Chamber because Maine is one of several targeted states. It has a U.S. Senate race with opponents on different sides of the issue.

The bill itself has been shelved for this Congressional session, but remains a hot election-year topic.

In Maine, ads aired earlier this month that tied the legislation to the U.S. Senate race between incumbent Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, who opposes the legislation, and U.S. Rep. Tom Allen, D-1st District, who supports it.

Both campaigns condemned the television ads, which featured actor Vince Curatola as an apparent labor-union boss. Curatola also played gangster John "Johnny Sac'' Sacramoni on the HBO television series "The Sopranos."

The legislation also has been a raised in connection with the presidential race. Earlier this month, the Wall Street Journal reported that Wal-Mart Stores Inc. held mandatory meetings with store managers and department supervisors to warn that if Democrats win in November, the party likely would push through the Employee Free Choice Act.

Sen. Barack Obama is a co-sponsor of the legislation, while Sen. John McCain opposes it.

Today, when a union effort is under way, workers are asked to sign cards seeking a union. At that point, one of two things can happen: An employer can accept the cards and recognize the union, or it can require an election.

The vast majority of businesses require an election.

Acuff's position is that requiring an election is unfair to organizers and potential union members because employers use that time to "intimidate and harass" the workers and undertake anti-union activities, such as hiring outside consultants and coaching managers on how to oppose the effort.

In 2007, half of all initial elections were conducted within 39 days of the filing of the petition; 93 percent were conducted within 56 days, according to the National Labor Relations Board.

"During an election campaign, there is a considerable amount of pressure on workers," Spencer acknowledged. "It comes from unions, from employers, from co-workers. The problem with the bill is that it puts another point of pressure on the worker: The pressure to sign the card. That's just increasing the pressure on the worker."

Spencer said the employers' interest is in making sure workers vote their conscience. "The employers I talk to say that if workers want to organize, that's fine. We just want them to do it by secret ballot. We don't want them harassed or intimidated by the union organizers," Spencer said.

Backers of the bill note that workers can still vote under the Employee Free Choice Act. At any time, if 30 percent of the workers want an election, they can have one. Spencer challenged the unions' position that the current environment wasn't working, noting that they win about 55 percent of the elections.

"What's the problem? They know how to win elections," he said. "The unions just want a situation where they know they will always win."

Both sides agree the legislation won't be going anywhere this session, since there aren't enough Senate votes to overcome a filibuster.

Waiting for the 111th Congress doesn't bother labor: Acuff said supporters have seen significant momentum building in support of the legislation since it was first introduced in 2003. "We've gotten larger and larger numbers of co-sponsors every time we've introduced it," Acuff said, noting the House vote this year was "a huge milestone."

Spencer said he anticipates that the bill will move swiftly to the Senate, where "it will all be about mathematics" - or whether the Democrats have gained the 60 seats needed to overcome a filibuster.

Acuff is counting votes, too.

"We want to build a filibuster-proof Senate, that's part of why the (Senate race) is so important in Maine," Acuff said.