Labor unions have been struggling to attract new membership for the past few decades. The number of unionized workers has steadily fallen for more than 20 years.

The Department of Labor reports that just 12.5 percent of U.S. workers belonged to a union in 2005 -- and the majority of those were government employees. Public-sector workers were four times more likely than their private-sector counterparts to belong to a labor organization.

Lagging membership is, in large part, due to past union successes. The battles have been won. Worker-management relations have improved. The economy has evolved.

But as a reaction to falling membership numbers, union bosses have become more aggressive in their efforts to make it easier to organize. And that means fighting against secret ballot elections held to determine whether employees at a given workplace wish to unionize.

Instead, unions prefer the "card-check" system, under which labor organizers need only secure a certain percentage of signatures from the workers in question to earn the right to collectively bargain.

In a New York Times article last week, Bruce S. Raynor, president of a national union that represents hotel, restaurant and apparel workers, said the use of card checks was better than subjecting "workers to an election." He added: "Under the National Labor Relations Act, the election process in the United States has turned into a meat grinder for workers."

Unions argue that the election process is too cumbersome, that employers punish outspoken union advocates, and that even when workers vote to organize, some companies won't negotiate. But those are issues for Congress and the National Labor Relations Board to address.

In fact, the card-check system pales when compared to the traditional secret ballot. The potential for abuse under the card-check method is obvious: Workers can easily be intimidated into giving their signatures. A secret ballot, on the other hand, ensures that employees are free to vote their consciences.

If an employer agrees to recognize a union on the basis of signatures, fine. That has been the case many times here in Las Vegas, including on Steve Wynn's new property.

But current law allows companies to insist on secret ballot elections. Unions want to change that -- and a bill pending in Congress would give unions the right to use card-checks, exclusively.

The obvious question: Why the fear of democracy? The aggressive union opposition to traditional elections -- which are overseen by the NLRB, not usually considered a toady for big business -- reveals much about the confidence labor leaders have in their message.