House Bill 952 makes it easier to form unions by allowing a "card-check" system that could supercede the long-established practice of the secret ballot. It goes for a final vote at the Legislature today.

It's a bad idea.

Every employee of a company should have the chance to vote — freely and privately, after an informed debate — on something of such profound impact on a company and its workers.

HB 952 allows a simple majority of those who've signed an authorization card to form a union. No voting required. It also sets deadlines for the parties to negotiate a collective bargaining agreement.

It's little comfort that the bill applies to employers with annual gross revenues of $5 million or more — roughly 2.5 percent of businesses in the state. Voting is an individual right overseen by the National Labor Relations Board. It should not be weakened, regardless of a company's size.

Union activists who support card check argue that the current system gives too much power to employers, who can unscrupulously pressure employees in the workplace and, if unsuccessful, drag out contract talks to the point of futility.

But card-check legislation can tip the balance of power too far the other way, and leave some workers without a voice in their own future.

And that is simply not acceptable.