Would someone please be kind enough to explain a union issue to me?

[Zavulon]

I've been meaning to ask this for a while, and finally the UAW thing has motivated me to do so.

Before I ask, I a.) have to point out that I've never been a member if a union and know nothing about union issues other than whatever the media chooses to report about them and b.) apologize for my ignorance. I just figure I can get a better answer from you than I can from the Dittoheads at work.

So, here goes: what exactly is this secret ballot thing, what I keep hearing referred to as the "card check" bill? Would it actually eliminate secret ballots, and if so why is that a good thing? What are the Dittoheads failing to mention about it? To hear them talk, it would lead to oversized gorillas coming to your house at midnight to force you to vote for something they want, and based on their track record I chose to get an explanation somewhere else.

Thanks in advance to anyone who doesn't mind bringing me up to speed on this one.