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.
This week American Rights at Work teamed up with Brave New Films to
present a
funny new video about an out-of-whack workplace, part of our campaign
to get 1 million people to support the Employee Free Choice Act.
Already more than 25,000 people have seen the funny new video,
"Your New Job," and we're just getting started.
Today at 1pm EST, the new live online show "Meet the Bloggers" will
discuss the Employee Free Choice Act and how it will help get our
economy back on track. Tune in this afternoon to watch Andy Stern of
SEIU and John Sweeney of the AFL-CIO talk about the bill, and stick
around for a segment featuring bloggers Baratunde Thurston and Michael
Whitney.
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.
This Labor Day, American Rights at Work is launching a new national cable television ad campaign featuring two commercials, "Fabric of America" and "We Don't Ask," that make the case for the Employee Free Choice Act. The ads, which will begin running nationally on Monday, September 7, are part of the sustained campaign from a broad coalition of labor and workers’ rights advocates urging lawmakers to enact this critical piece of legislation.
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.
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 prominentbillboards 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.
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.
"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.
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.
Unfortunately for Wal-Mart workers, this intimidation is nothing new. It's actually part and parcel for Wal-Mart's business plan. When Wal-Mart employees stand up for themselves and try to form a union, they face threats, propaganda, discrimination, intimidation, and even firings in retaliation.
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.
A growing, bipartisan coalition of policymakers supports the Employee
Free Choice Act, federal legislation that would ensure workers have a
free choice and a fair chance to form a union.
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