The Minnesota AFL-CIO has called on U.S. Senator Norm Coleman to denounce the ad and its attack on the Employee Free Choice Act, federal legislation that would make it easier for workers to form unions.
In the ad, actor Vince Curatola from "The Sopranos" is cast in character as a mob boss who criticizes Coleman for opposing the Employee Free Choice Act and then praises "my pal Al," U.S. Senate candidate Al Franken, who is running against Coleman.
"We condemn these ads," said Steve Hunter, secretary-treasurer of the Minnesota AFL-CIO, speaking at a news conference Tuesday at the State Capitol. "We find these ads clearly wrong and furthermore they are demeaning to workers and to their unions and to our fellow union member, Al Franken."
Hunter added that the ad stirs up tired stereotypes of union leaders as union bosses linked to organized crime. "Somehow they\'re trying to tie Al Franken to negative stereotypes of union leaders," Hunter said.
(The Minnesota AFL-CIO has endorsed Franken in the U.S. Senate race).
The announcer in the ad states that "Norm Coleman says keep the secret ballot for union organizing elections" while adding that "Franken says eliminate the secret ballot for workers."
But, Hunter said, the message in the ad is "deceptive and inaccurate" and a false characterization of the Employee Free Choice Act, which Coleman opposes and Franken supports.
Since 1935, Hunter explained, federal law has provided two routes to union recognition: when a majority of workers in a workplace sign union authorization cards or when a majority of workers vote for union representation in an election supervised by the National Labor Relations Board.
Under current law, however, the employer can refuse to recognize the signed authorization cards. Instead, the employer can insist on an NLRB election. Then, "they use the election process to intimidate employees," Hunter noted. "We don\'t think that\'s a fair and democratic way to have an election."
The proposed Employee Free Choice Act gives workers, not employers, the choice to decide whether union authorization cards or an NLRB election determine union recognition, Hunter said. The legislation would recognize a union if a simple majority of workers in the workplace sign union authorization cards. Hunter emphasized that the legislation does not eliminate secret ballot elections: an NLRB election would take place if 30 percent of the workers in the workplace requested an election.
"The sad fact is that Senator Coleman understands this," Hunter said. "We ask him to condemn the ads."
Commenting on the ad\'s use of a character from the Sopranos, a reporter asked Hunter, "do you find anything humorous here?"
Hunter replied: "I don\'t find it humorous when you talk about workers\' rights."
Hunter\'s request to Coleman: "I would ask the Senator to say ‘thanks but no thanks\' [to the group paying for the ad] and ask them to take the ad off the air."
Similar ads have appeared in other states with close U.S. Senate races, Hunter said.
For more information
To view the ad on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r267W0w3Veg&eurl=http://briefingroom.thehill.com/2008/07/07/sopranos-vincent-curatola-opposes-al-franken-in-second-coalition-for-a-democratic-w
View a "Reality Check" by WCCO-TV reporter Pat Kessler on the misrepresentations and stereotypes in the ad: http://wcco.com/realitycheck/ad.organizing.workers.2.767488.html
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The Minnesota AFL-CIO has called on U.S. Senator Norm Coleman to denounce the ad and its attack on the Employee Free Choice Act, federal legislation that would make it easier for workers to form unions.
In the ad, actor Vince Curatola from "The Sopranos" is cast in character as a mob boss who criticizes Coleman for opposing the Employee Free Choice Act and then praises "my pal Al," U.S. Senate candidate Al Franken, who is running against Coleman.
"We condemn these ads," said Steve Hunter, secretary-treasurer of the Minnesota AFL-CIO, speaking at a news conference Tuesday at the State Capitol. "We find these ads clearly wrong and furthermore they are demeaning to workers and to their unions and to our fellow union member, Al Franken."
Hunter added that the ad stirs up tired stereotypes of union leaders as union bosses linked to organized crime. "Somehow they\’re trying to tie Al Franken to negative stereotypes of union leaders," Hunter said.
(The Minnesota AFL-CIO has endorsed Franken in the U.S. Senate race).
The announcer in the ad states that "Norm Coleman says keep the secret ballot for union organizing elections" while adding that "Franken says eliminate the secret ballot for workers."
But, Hunter said, the message in the ad is "deceptive and inaccurate" and a false characterization of the Employee Free Choice Act, which Coleman opposes and Franken supports.
Since 1935, Hunter explained, federal law has provided two routes to union recognition: when a majority of workers in a workplace sign union authorization cards or when a majority of workers vote for union representation in an election supervised by the National Labor Relations Board.
Under current law, however, the employer can refuse to recognize the signed authorization cards. Instead, the employer can insist on an NLRB election. Then, "they use the election process to intimidate employees," Hunter noted. "We don\’t think that\’s a fair and democratic way to have an election."
The proposed Employee Free Choice Act gives workers, not employers, the choice to decide whether union authorization cards or an NLRB election determine union recognition, Hunter said. The legislation would recognize a union if a simple majority of workers in the workplace sign union authorization cards. Hunter emphasized that the legislation does not eliminate secret ballot elections: an NLRB election would take place if 30 percent of the workers in the workplace requested an election.
"The sad fact is that Senator Coleman understands this," Hunter said. "We ask him to condemn the ads."
Commenting on the ad\’s use of a character from the Sopranos, a reporter asked Hunter, "do you find anything humorous here?"
Hunter replied: "I don\’t find it humorous when you talk about workers\’ rights."
Hunter\’s request to Coleman: "I would ask the Senator to say ‘thanks but no thanks\’ [to the group paying for the ad] and ask them to take the ad off the air."
Similar ads have appeared in other states with close U.S. Senate races, Hunter said.
For more information
To view the ad on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r267W0w3Veg&eurl=http://briefingroom.thehill.com/2008/07/07/sopranos-vincent-curatola-opposes-al-franken-in-second-coalition-for-a-democratic-w
View a "Reality Check" by WCCO-TV reporter Pat Kessler on the misrepresentations and stereotypes in the ad: http://wcco.com/realitycheck/ad.organizing.workers.2.767488.html