Yesterday was an historic day. Corporate-funded front groups tried – and failed – to use the Employee Free Choice Act as a wedge issue in this election. They spent nearly $20 million dollars to smear candidates who would defend the right to form a union, freely and fairly. And in almost every race, those candidates beat the lies.

These anti-union groups thought they could scare Americans into voting for candidates who would look out for CEOs while leaving the middle class holding the bag. Even Wal-Mart thought it could bully employees into voting against pro-worker candidates. We proved them wrong.

Let's face it. Something's wrong when CEOs rake in hundreds of times what their employees earn, and workers get the boot just for talking about unions.  It could almost be a bad joke if it weren't such a serious problem.

That's why we teamed up with the award-winning producers at Brave New Films to make this video about a workplace where employees work without benefits, pay is based on favoritism, and the CEO is the only one with a contract.

After you watch, we hope you take a minute to sign our petition for the Employee Free Choice Act.  

Today American Rights at Work launched a national television ad campaign to educate the public on the critical issues facing America's struggling middle class. The ads will build on the broad public support for the Employee Free Choice Act, a bipartisan bill in Congress that will help workers achieve the American Dream by giving them the freedom to choose a union.

We're releasing these ads in celebration of Labor Day as part of a huge, new coordinated effort among workers' rights advocates, progressives, and labor unions to champion this legislation, which passed the House last year and garnered majority support in the Senate.

» Watch our ad on YouTube
» Read the AP article about our campaign
» See the press release

Yesterday marked the start of the Democratic National Convention, but our campaign for the Employee Free Choice Act kicked into high gear over the weekend with the rollout of ads to broaden support for the Employee Free Choice Act.

Included in this kickoff are two prominent billboards in Denver, full page ads in Politico and USA Today, and expansive online advertising. This is a preview of a larger campaign to make the Employee Free Choice Act a reality for workers struggling in this economy, with plans to run until the bill is passed.

Check out one of our billboards up in Denver:

American Rights at Work is releasing these ads in advance of Labor Day as part of a huge, new coordinated effort among workers’ rights advocates, progressives, and labor unions to champion this legislation. These ads help kickoff a new campaign and coordinated push for passage of this critical legislation.

(also posted at OpenLeft)

America's middle class wants to grow.  That's the message from a new nationwide poll that shows a clear majority of the middle class supports the Employee Free Choice Act.

Overall, 68% of middle-class adults would have liked their representative in the U.S. House to vote for the bill.  Specifically, 80% of Democrats, 60% of Republicans, and 59% of Independents polled were in favor of their representatives voting for the bill.

American Rights at Work Executive Director Mary Beth Maxwell put the poll in perspective:

"This new poll reinforces that a clear majority of Americans - be they Democrats, Independents, or Republicans - want policies like the Employee Free Choice Act that will help working families struggling in this economy. [...] Momentum for the Employee Free Choice Act is real and while anti-union corporations and their front groups are spending millions to mislead the public, Americans aren't buying it."

It shouldn't be any mystery why the middle class supports the Employee Free Choice Act.  The bill would help level the playing field to give workers the freedom to choose to join a union, so they can earn better wages and benefits and have greater opportunity towards achieving the American Dream.

The Nation’s Chris Hayes was spot on this week in talking about Wal-Mart’s attempt to tell workers how to vote: Wal-Mart’s actions demonstrate how urgently workers need the Employee Free Choice Act. 

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is mobilizing its store managers and department supervisors around the country to warn that if Democrats win power in November, they'll likely change federal law to make it easier for workers to unionize companies -- including Wal-Mart.

The earnings gap between the wealthy and the middle-class is wider than it’s been since 1928.¹

Wages are worse than they were in 1970.²

Does that seem okay to you?

Me neither. We need to get the middle class moving. And one of the best ways to boost our economy is to allow more workers to join unions.

Click here to jumpstart the American Dream - chip in to help pass the Employee Free Choice Act.

American Rights at Work is waging an aggressive effort to educate the public in local campaigns, train community leaders to become advocates for our cause, mobilize state networks to support the Employee Free Choice Act and speak out in the media in support of this bill.

We need to mobilize now, but it can't be done without your help. Our fundraising deadline is this Monday.

• $25 provides materials to train local leaders to become spokespeople for the Employee Free Choice Act.
• $50 can sponsor an ad on a local website in one of our target states.
• $100 helps launch our big YouTube video campaign, led by an Emmy-nominated film producer.
• $250 will help fund message research and build our rapid-response network, so we can fight back when anti-worker groups run misleading ads.

Donate now and help us raise $10,000 by Monday >>