Featured Unionbuster: Employee Freedom Action Committee

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.americanrightsatwork.org/the-anti-union-network/employee-freedom-action-committee-360-360/

July 30, 2008

The Employee Freedom Action Committee (EFAC) is a political spin-off of lobbyist Richard Berman's anti-union front group, the Center for Union Facts. EFAC attacks candidates who support the Employee Free Choice Act.

* What is EFAC?
* What does EFAC do?
* Why is EFAC wrong?
* Who funds EFAC?
* Where is EFAC active?

What is the Employee Freedom Action Committee?

EFAC is a new anti-union front group that attacks Congressional candidates who support the Employee Free Choice Act, a bill that would make it easier for workers to form unions. Behind the scenes, the group is a corporate-funded campaign against workers' rights.

Though it often purports to be "pro-worker," or at least "not anti-union," EFAC serves no interests but those of anti-union corporations afraid of their employees having a voice at work. EFAC and its allies plan to spend tens of millions of dollars into early 2009 in attempts to defeat the Employee Free Choice Act.
What does the Employee Freedom Action Committee do?

EFAC established itself in several states with contested Congressional campaigns; in addition to a national 501(c)(4) group, EFAC created at least a dozen shallow state-based spinoffs to appear as localized groups. Its apparent intent is to prevent the election of candidates who would vote for the Employee Free Choice Act in the next Congress.

Armed deceptive print and radio ads and aggressive associates who track candidates with video cameras, Berman's EFAC aims to kick up dust in political races at the behest of anonymous anti-union corporations. EFAC targets races and attacks candidates it wants to portray as vulnerable on workers' rights issues. EFAC does not air its own ads on television, as its 501(c)(3) arm, the Center for Union Facts, puts up general anti-union advertising on TV almost everywhere EFAC goes.
Why is the Employee Freedom Action Committee wrong?

EFAC's main line of attack - that the Employee Free Choice Act somehow takes away so-called "secret ballot" elections for joining a union - is blatantly false. The Employee Free Choice Act not only strengthens the current process for workers forming unions, but also provides for a more fair and democratic method for men and women to join unions.

Local media outlets in Berman's target states have done well in exposing the lies of his out-of-state interference campaigns. A Minnesota publication called EFAC “fake,” and its ads “smears,” while an Oregon paper did its homework and said the group attempts to “mislead voters.”

FULL story at link.