Congressman's campaign commercials stand up for workers
By Barb Kucera, Workday editor 20 October 2008
| MINNEAPOLIS - Congressman Keith Ellison could be spending his campaign funds promoting his record and appealing for more votes in the Nov. 4 election. Instead, he's standing up for the Employee Free Choice Act, legislation to strengthen worker rights. |
Truth to tell, the popular first-term DFL lawmaker doesn't need to work hard to win re-election in Minnesota's 5th Congressional district, which includes Minneapolis. He hasn't been resting on this laurels, however, as his campaign has focused on registering new voters, reaching out to under-represented communities and building support for other Democrats such as presidential candidate Barack Obama and U.S. Senate candidate Al Franken.
So when Ellison saw the TV commercials, newspaper advertisements and election-related mailings attacking the Employee Free Choice Act, he decided they needed a strong response.
"There comes a time when enough is just enough!" Ellison said at a news conference Monday announcing a new campaign commercial running on Twin Cities radio stations taking on the opponents of EFCA.
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Congressman Keith Ellison
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Ellison's ad
"You've probably seen those attack ads claiming some candidates want to take away your right to a secret ballot in union elections," Ellison states in the commercial. "Plain and simple, these are lies paid for by CEOs who negotiate lavish salaries for themselves but don't want you to be able to bargain for a better life for yourself and your family.
"In reality, the Employee Free Choice Act would strengthen your freedom to choose union representation. It protects the right to a secret ballot. It gives workers more ways to bargain together for health care benefits and fair wages. On average, workers who belong to unions earn 30 percent more and are much more likely to have health and pension benefits.
"Politicians who support the Employee Free Choice Act, like me, want to provide a fairer way for working men and women to rebuild America's middle class. I urge you to support candidates who support the Employee Free Choice Act and to reject the lies of those CEOs who want to continue lining their pockets while they keep picking yours."
(To hear the ad, go to www.keithellison.org and click on the link in the righthand column under "Broadcasts").
The commercial is running on WCCO AM 830 and KTNF AM 950, with other radio stations possibly to be added, said Larry Weiss, Ellison's campaign manager.
Unprecedented attack
Corporations and front groups, such as the so-called "Coalition for a Democratic Workplace" and the "Employee Freedom Action Committee" are spending nearly $100 million to advertise against EFCA, according to reports by media and watchdog groups. Their TV commercials feature Mafia-style "union leaders" coercing workers and their postcard mailings showcase a "worker" with a black eye saying, "Without my union friends . . . I wouldn't know how to vote."
It's the largest, most direct attack on worker rights in memory, according to many union leaders.
"The rightwing smear machine would like nothing better than to distract voters from the real issues in this campaign – jobs, health care, the economy. To do so, they're spreading false charges," said Bill McCarthy, president of the Minneapolis Regional Labor Federation. "The Employee Free Choice Act will help more workers have a voice on the job. It will expand the number of workers who enjoy benefits like health insurance and retirement plans. The Employee Free Choice Act is all about empowering workers. That's why you're now hearing more about it from the opposition."
Indeed, EFCA stands a good chance of passage in the next Congress if Barack Obama is elected president and Democrats improve their numbers in the U.S. House and Senate.
Fact over fiction
EFCA would reform the nation's basic labor laws by requiring employers to recognize a union after a majority of workers sign cards authorizing union representation. It also would provide mediation and arbitration for first-contract disputes and establish stronger penalties for violation of the rights of workers seeking to form unions or negotiate first contracts.
The proposed legislation would not take away a worker's right to a secret ballot. Rather, it would give workers the choice of using a secret ballot or a "majority signup" of union cards to decide the issue of representation.
What about opponents' charges that unions might intimidate workers into signing cards if EFCA passes? In their 2006 report, "Fact Over Fiction," Rutgers University Professor Adrienne Eaton and Wheeling Jesuit University Professor Jill Kriesky found that one in 20 workers – 4.6 percent – reported "feeling pressured by a union organizer to sign a card during a majority sign-up campaign."
In contrast, 23 percent of workers in those same campaigns experienced "management coercion to oppose the union," the researchers found.
For more information
Learn more about EFCA at the American Rights at Work website, www.americanrightsatwork.org
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