Unions have been known to use a variety of -- shall we say -- creative methods to win representation elections, including (but not limited to) collusion with government officials, threats, intimidation and even outright violence.

In fact, union violence has even received sanction by the U.S. Supreme Court with the infamous and outrageous 1973 United States v. Enmons decision, which held that violence by labor unions was not a violation of the Hobbs Act and as a result, writes David Kendrick for CATO, "vandalism, assault, even murder by union officials are exempt from federal anti-extortion law."

No wonder that "thousands of incidents of violent assaults (directed mostly against workers) by union militants have gone unpunished" in the decades since Enmons, according to National Right to Work.

Violence and thuggery receive a lot of attention, but Big Labor has also been known to use less-well known, more subtle methods to win elections.   One classic ruse is to suppress opposition turnout by starting rumors that the election results are already known even as the voting is still in progress, and that the union has secured an easy victory.  

Those who may have been inclined to vote against unionization could hear such rumors and decide that there is no sense in voting after all...

...which of course is exactly what the union wants.