Hypocrisy with union elections?

From the Wall Street Journal editorial pages March 8, 2007:

"In a largely party-line vote last week, Democrats in the House passed the Employee Free Choice Act, a measure that rewrites the rules for union organizing by eliminating secret-ballot elections. The Senate is up next. And if you suspect this has everything to do with expanding union membership and nada to do with 'employee free choice,' we'd direct you to a missive sent to Mexico in 2001 and signed by 16 Democrats in Congress.

"The letter is addressed to government officials and concerns 'democracy in the Mexican workplace.' It reads, 'we are writing to encourage you to use the secret ballot in all union recognition elections.' It continues: 'We understand that the secret ballot is allowed for, but not required, by Mexican labor law. However, we feel that the secret ballot is absolutely necessary in order to ensure that workers are not intimidated into voting for a union they might not otherwise choose.'

"Five of the signers have since left Congress; the other 11 voted last week for the Employee Free Choice Act. And by the way, the letter's lead signatory is Representative George Miller of California, who also happens to be the lead sponsor of the House bill. Which means the same person lecturing Mexican officials on the primacy of secret ballot elections has been heading up the effort to end them for 140 million U.S. workers."