Christopher Beam of Slate has one of the best run-downs of the Big Lie used by the opponents of Employee Free Choice, namely the “secret ballot” question. It’s too long and thorough to lend itself to quoting, so I recommend you read Beam’s piece. But this passage is certainly critical:

Even though employers are free to recognize a union without an election, in practice they almost always request an election: Why recognize a union before they have to? Requesting an election also gives them more time to lobby against unionization.

The essential change of the EFCA would be to allow the employees—rather than the employer—to decide whether to hold a secret-ballot election. If at least half of the work force signed cards saying it wanted a union, there would be a union—without the rigmarole of a full-blown election.