U.S. Chamber's "VoteForBusiness Bandwagon" Mobilizes Richmond to Preserve Secret Ballot Rights

RICHMOND, VA—The U.S. Chamber of Commerce's "VoteForBusiness Bandwagon" visited Richmond today to mobilize local business leaders and citizens against federal Card Check legislation and the rest of organized labor's anti-growth agenda. The Card Check bill, likely to resurface early in the next Congress, would allow unions to force workers to say publicly whether they want a union or not, essentially abolishing secret ballot elections in unionization drives.

"Doing away with secret ballots in union organizing drives would fly in the face of tradition in states like Virginia that pride themselves on respecting employee freedom," said Steven J. Law, chief legal officer and general counsel for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. "It is critical for the Chamber to mobilize its unique grassroots network to win such pivotal battles."

The VoteForBusiness bus visited the Greater Richmond Chamber of Commerce where local business leaders and the public heard remarks by U.S. Chamber policy experts. Glenn Spencer, Executive Director of the Chamber's Workforce Freedom Initiative, spoke about how Card Check would harm workers and small businesses. Marc Freedman, the Chamber's Director of Labor Policy, discussed the labor's larger legislative agenda.

The Richmond stop comes just weeks after the launch of the Chamber's Workforce Freedom Initiative, a nationwide multi-million dollar grassroots effort to preserve the rights and freedoms of Americans in the workplace. In the coming weeks, the Chamber will also hold similar events in Oregon, Maine, and North Carolina.

The "VoteForBusiness Bandwagon" tour rolled out on August 8 with two buses which will cross 32 states covering over 8,000 miles including stops at both the Republican and Democratic National Conventions. The campaign's mission is to educate and mobilize citizens and business leaders to promote the Chamber's American competitiveness agenda.

For more on the "VoteForBusiness Bandwagon", please visit www.voteforbusiness.com/.

The U.S. Chamber is the world's largest business federation representing more than 3 million businesses and organizations of every size, sector, and region.

www.uschamber.com/

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