Opponents of the controversial Employee Free Choice Act are making the most out of the scandal surrounding Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich.
The pro-business Americans for Job Security is running a TV ad in Arkansas, Nebraska and North Dakota telling Democratic senators in those states not to vote for the EFCA, commonly referred to as the "card check" bill but dubbed the "union boss bailout" in the ad. The group likens the money the Service Employees International Union used to help elect Democratic senators to the pay-to-play accusations against Democrat Blagojevich. The spot alleges that the senators' "payback" to the SEIU will take "from workers the right to a secret ballot." The ad links the two issues through a Dec. 10 Washington Post article that reports a SEIU official acted as an "apparent intermediary between the governor and Barack Obama's camp in discussions over Obama's Senate seat."
AJS President Stephen DeMaura said that the SEIU and Blagojevich are "very close." Just as the governor looked to sell the Illinois Senate seat, the SEIU looked to buy Senate seats for $85 million, DeMaura said. The ad targets Democratic senators Ben Nelson of Nebraska; Kent Conrad and Byron Dorgan of North Dakota; and Blanche Lincoln and Mark Pryor of Arkansas.
Josh Goldstein, a spokesman for the pro-EFCA American Rights at Work, brushed off the ad as yet another tactic aimed at finding "every single way to attack this legislation without ever actually talking about the bill." The group is going to continue its campaign and has no plans to launch a specific counterattack, he said.
Supporters say the legislation would make it easier for workers to unionize, but critics, like DeMaura's group, contend that a provision eliminating businesses' ability to demand a secret ballot election before workers form a union would leave employees vulnerable to intimidation and coercion by union bosses.
Meanwhile, the two sides are sparring over Obama's yet-to-be-announced Labor secretary. Goldstein said his group would like to see American Rights at Work founding Executive Director Mary Beth Maxwell at Labor's helm. The only name DeMaura threw out as a nonstarter was Maxwell, calling her "unacceptable to many in the business community."
Both Maxwell and former Democratic Rep.David Bonior of Michigan, a member of Obama's economic transition team and chairman of American Rights at Work, have been vocal supporters of the legislation. Bonior is also rumored to be one of Obama's top Labor picks.
-- Amy Harder
CLARIFICATION: The original version of this report had a different description of the debate in the fifth paragraph.
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