Ad Designed to Educate Coloradans on Senate Candidates’ Positions on Private Ballots
As thousands of people descend on Denver, Colorado
for the Democratic National Convention this week, the
Coalition for a Democratic Workplace (CDW) is putting the importance of protecting worker privacy
on the national agenda.
As part of its ongoing public education campaign, CDW
today released a new television ad that identifies
the positions of former Representatives Bob Schaffer
and Mark Udall, Colorado U.S. Senate candidates, on
private ballots in the workplace and the mis-named Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA).
The ad, developed by nationally known media strategist
Mike Murphy, is the third spot in the series that uses
a widely recognized character who will be easily identifiable
to viewers and will use humor to reinforce the need
to protect private ballots for workers. The script
of the ad is attached.
“With Denver being at the epicenter of political attention
this week, we wanted to take the opportunity to inform
Coloradans that the ability for workers to cast their
vote in private is at stake,” said Brian Worth with the Coalition for a Democratic
Workplace.
“Union bosses are working overtime and spending tens
of millions of dollars to get card check passed.
We’re going to work equally hard
to educate people about the threat to private ballots
in union organizing elections.”
Union special interests have made support for the EFCA,
or “card check” bill, a top priority this year and are pressuring
candidates to pledge their support.
Under the EFCA, workers would effectively lose their
right to a private ballot when deciding whether to
be represented by a union. The private ballot would
be replaced with a “card check” scheme where a union is organized if a majority of
workers simply sign a card; the workers’ signatures are made public to their employer, the
union organizers and their co-workers.
The bill passed the U.S.
House of Representatives but was blocked in the Senate
in June, 2007.
Labor union leaders have promised to reintroduce the
legislation next year.
