Labor Update: It's Issue Framing Season for Unions

At one point during the 2008 election cycle, television commercials no longer sold us toothpaste, cars and appliances as they had done for generations of TV watchers. The airwaves were instead filled with political commercials selling ideology and candidates as their products.

I suspect that though this is a mid-term election, what was witnessed then will be repeated, perhaps increased, this election cycle. And the AFL-CIO is joining in the chorus.

If you were not in the NASCAR media market over the Labor Day weekend, you probably missed the ad put out by the AFL-CIO, championing the working people who are the backbone of our nation. However, you can still view it here
 
The commercial was meant to reach people where they usually are on Labor Day weekend – watching sports stations: Major League Baseball games on Sunday and Monday, the Sunday NASCAR Pep Boys Auto 500 race and the Monday night opener of NCAA football, with the top-rated Boise State vs. Virginia Tech game.

The ads reminded television viewers and radio listeners that it's working people working together who've always moved our country forward – making things, innovating, building our country, keeping our communities safe, strengthening the future for our children and so much more.

The ads are not political, but they provide a frame for the intensive grassroots political effort that will be put forth by the working women and men in AFL-CIO unions in the upcoming elections.

Jobs remain the single most important issue facing our nation in this election cycle. The American economy shed another 54,000 jobs in August, leaving the unemployment rate at 9.6 percent officially. Never forget, however, that the official rate does not count the discouraged unemployed workers who fell off the rosters because they never could land the one job for every five applicants.

Though the August jobs report showed 67,000 jobs were added, this number is down from July’s 107,000 jobs created, but  both remain far below the 125,000 jobs that need to be created each month just to satisfy the needs of young people entering the job market.

###

In other advertising news, the Democratic National Committee is far outpacing the Republican National Committee in fund raising, with Obama alone raising 8 million just in the first half of August. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has so far raised enough to purchase $49 million in advertising time.

On the GOP side, the Republican Governor’s Association continues to raise record amounts of money for the fall election, including a $1 million gift given just 2 weeks ago from News Corp, the parent company of Fox news.

Why this strategy, you might ask?

Remember that this is a census year, and whoever wins the governors’ races and state legislative seats across the 50 states will control redistricting, therefore affecting political outcomes for the next decade. This was exactly the tactic used by Tom Delay in Texas during the Bush era.

So be prepared for an onslaught of overt political advertising. And don't forget about the robo-calls. The Republicans are casting a wide net in this game. In fact,the Quad City Federation of Labor office has already received four messages from the American Family Association telling us how Bruce Braley supports the building of a “ground zero mosque.”  I tried to call the number they left in the voice mail in case I had questions. I was gonna ask about the actual mosque that used to be in the World Trade Center, about the mosque that already stands in lower Manhattan, and see if someone there understood the language of the first amendment to the constitution, but just got an answering machine. When I think of a good prank call, I'll call back.

 ###

I just discovered a new online labor news resource in Workers Independent News.  To receive their online newsletter in your email box every business day, visit their website and register. You can also listen to their webcasts at laborradio.org.  It's free, and registration is not required!

These kinds of stories and others and others are updated daily:

United Steel Workers: Latest Gulf Oil Rig Explosion Shows Nee
d For More Time For Safety Inspections
United Steelworkers (USW) International Vice President Gary Beevers says the oil rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico Thursday shows that we need to make sure all these rigs in the gulf are safe before we put personnel back to work on them.
Read the complete story here
Listen        
 
Locked Out Honeywell Workers Defending Health Care And Pensions
Honeywell is continuing its lockout of United Steel Workers members at a uranium conversion plant in Metropolis, Illinois.
Read the complete story here
Listen 
 
UNITE-HERE Presses Campaign Against Hyatt Hotel Labor Practices
Hyatt Regency Waikiki workers staged a one-day strike on Thursday.
Read the complete story here
Listen 
 
Economic Report
 
Joblessness Causing Wage Erosion For Workers Who Still Have Jobs
As President Obama told the nation, our most urgent task is to restore our economy.  The Economic Policy Institute says continuing high unemployment is hurting workers who have jobs, too.
Read the complete story here
Listen
 
NALC Protests 5-Day Work Week Proposal
Members of one of the largest letter carriers' unions are urging lawmakers to defeat plans by the US Postal Service to eliminate Saturday service, as a way to fill a widening budget gap.
Read the complete story here
Listen

~Tracy Kurowski has been active in
the labor movement for ten years, first as a member of AFSCME 3506, when
she taught adult education classes at the City Colleges of Chicago. She
moved to the Quad Cities in 2007 where she worked as political
coordinator with the Quad City Federation of Labor, and as a caseworker
for Congressman Bruce Braley from 2007 – 2009.

Read Tracy Kurowski's labor updates most Mondays on Blog for
Iowa