Were they secret ballots or not?

I blogged yesterday on the claim of a miner’s wife:

The woman, who declined to be named, was critical of the Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union (EPMU).

She said the union should have held a secret ballot on the Stockton strike, but instead asked miners for a show of hands.

I then updated the post to include this response from the EPMU:

The EPMU’s position on this is simple. The core allegation, that no secret ballot was held, is factually, verifiably false. There was a secret ballot at all sites as is union policy, and there are hundreds of miners who can vouch for that.

A West Coaster though has alerted me to this article in the Greymouth Star:

The Westport woman said the union should have held a secret ballot on the Stockton strike, but instead asked miners for a show of hands.

Those who wanted to keep working had been afraid of being victimised if they did not put their hands up, she said.
Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union (EPMU) assistant national secretary Ged O’Connell said he was “absolutely 100% confident” that secret ballots were held nationwide. If they were not, union officials would have been breaching their duties.

“We would view that pretty seriously.”

However, the Greymouth Star has been told the Spring Creek vote was also a show of hands and not a secret ballot.

Mr O’Connell failed to respond to calls about that claim today.

Now I don’t know what happened, as I was not there. But that is two separate claims about two separate ballots in two separate towns. Whether or not there was a secret ballot is a matter of fact, and should be easy to ascertain – one needs miners who were at the meetings to speak on the record to clear it up.