If employees decide they want to join a union, what steps do they take? Usually, the employees will go through a union organizing process (Exhibit 10-4). In this process, employees will generally select a union to represent them and then ask for a vote of employees concerning whether or not they desire to be represented by the union. The NLRA (discussed earlier in the chapter) gives employees the right to bargain collectively with their employer, and to choose a union as their representative. It is the primary federal law governing union organizing and elections in private firms. The primary method for union elections is a secret ballot. An election is authorized if at least 30% of the employees in an appropriate bargaining unit sign "authorization cards" allowing a union to negotiate employment terms and conditions on their behalf. The union then presents these cards to the NLRB, as an election petition. Once this happens, "the NLRB sharply limits what management can say and do. Violating the rules is an unfair labor practice, and the union is likely to complain to the NLRB about any such violations and use them against the employer in the union organizing campaign.