AFL-CIO dismantles anti-labor attack ad against Merkley

DENVER--AFL-CIO Executive Vice President Arlene Holt Baker told the Oregon delegation on Tuesday that Oregon House Speaker Jeff Merkley (D-Portland) was getting attacked on the airwaves by anti-union groups because of his support for workers.

“The ads have been particularly vicious and misleading toward Jeff Merkley,” Baker said. “They’re attacking where they think they can do it, but what do you expect from a party that has never supported employees?”

Baker said that Merkley wasn’t the only Democratic Senate candidate facing the ads. Al Franken (D-Minn.) and U.S Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) who both support the Employee Free Choice Act are being attacked as well, she said. The ads accuse candidates of giving into labor bosses that want to force employees to join a union. But Baker said that is a big misinterpretation of the act.

“The premise of the Employee Free Choice Act is that if a majority of workers believe they should have a union, then they should have a right to have a union,” Baker said. “We are on the verge of a historic breakthrough, and if Democrats win then the Employee Free Choice Act will pass. Wal-Mart doesn’t get that much right, but they are right about that.”