New ads launch SEIU campaign to highlight Chamber assault on workers' rights and common-sense legislation to help economy

Washington, DC-The very same day that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce announced a $100 million campaign to defend the free market system," SEIU announced a campaign of its own: to expose the Chamber's record of opposing working families and common-sense legislation that would help our economy. The campaign will launch today with a new ad designed to tie the Chamber's current opposition to the Employee Free Choice Act to their past opposition of popular legislation like the Family Medical and Leave Act, SCHIP, and raising the minimum wage.

"While Americans are losing their jobs, their retirement security and their health care, the greedy CEOs that the U.S. Chamber represents have brought us nothing more than executive bonuses and taxpayer-funded bailouts," said SEIU Secretary-Treasurer Anna Burger. "Now they've announced a deep-pocketed misinformation campaign. Let me tell you: It's going to take more than a $100 million PR campaign to make people believe that greedy CEOs have their best interests at heart. They're going to have to start behaving differently."

The ad, entitled "Bad Company," will run online in Pennsylvania, Arkansas, Louisiana, Virginia and North Dakota.

"Over the next couple of months, you're going to hear from a wide coalition of interests, from small businesses to environmental groups, exposing the U.S. Chamber's assault on common-sense legislation across the board," continued Burger. "We'll never be able to outspend Big Business, but luckily, we'll have the will of every American who believes we should give average workers a dollar raise before we give another CEO a million-dollar bonus."

In an April poll from Public Strategies, Inc., just 37 percent of Americans said they trusted corporations to "do the right thing." Recently, the Chamber of Commerce even admitted that they still accept taxpayer-funded bailout money to fund their ad campaign against the Employee Free Choice Act.

The ad can be viewed at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bijK6xWJXR0

Full script is below.

Bad Company
:30

The US Chamber of Commerce is going all out to stop the Employee Free Choice Act.

The same guys who lobbied to keep millions of kids from getting healthcare.

...opposed increasing the minimum wage and extending unemployment benefits.
...fought against family leave.

Yep, the same group of greedy CEOs who've taken billions for bailouts and nearly ruined our economy.

Guess it's no surprise the US Chamber of Commerce is opposing better pay and health benefits for America's workers.

Let's pass the Employee Free Choice Act. It's time the economy worked for everyone again.

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