IFPTE - GAO UNION AUTHORIZATION CARD Law Offices of Woodley & McGillivary Legal Opinion on Confidentiality of Union Authorization Cards Employment Law Firm's Opinion States that the PAB Has to Maintain Authorization Cards' Confidentiality to Comply with Federal Law The legal opinion from labor and employment law firm Woodley and McGillivary was prepared for GAO Analysts' unionizing effort and received by IFPTE Legal Counsel Julia Clark on June 21, 2006. . The opinion addresses GAO Analysts' inquiry regarding the GAO Personnel Appeals Boards and authorization card confidentiality and concludes: "…pursuant to federal regulations, the GAO Personnel Appeals Board – the entity to which the cards are submitted for purposes of initiating the election process – must keep the authorization cards confidential and should not, for any purpose whatsoever, provide authorization cards, or the information contained on the authorization cards, to the Agency during a representation proceeding. … if, by chance, the Agency somehow improperly obtains the authorization cards or information contained on them, it may not, under any circumstances, retaliate against an employee for exercising his or her federal right to be represented by a labor organization for purposes of collective bargaining." The legal opinion can be downloaded here [PDF].