The U.S. Chamber of Commerce-backed corporate front group Coalition for a Democratic Workplace is out with a new video filled with falsehoods about the Employee Free Choice Act. Their new video, produced by GOP and corporate ad man Mike Murphy, peddles thoroughly debunked lies and misinformation about the bill.
Watch our fact check:
Media Matters Action has a thorough debunking of this ad, but here's some of our own fact checking as well:
Businesses Are Not Negatively Impacted by Unionization. A study released by the Economic Policy Institute found that unionized businesses are no more likely than nonunion ones to fail. [EPI, 2009]
Study That Claims Employee Free Choice Act Will Lead To Job Losses Is "Crackpot Economics": According to Larry Mishel of the Economic Policy Institute, the Layne-Farrar study is "crackpot economics." Mishel noted that by using the study's logic, the United States would have "negative unemployment" given that union membership has decreased over the past 30 years. Instead, U.S. unemployment has reached a 26-year high of 8.1 percent. [Daily Labor Report, 3/6/09]
Exhaustive Analysis Found No Link Between Unionization Rates & Unemployment. In 2006, according to CEPR's Dean Baker, the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) did an "exhaustive analysis" of the research on this topic and concluded that there was no link between unionization rates and unemployment. [Dean Baker, Op-Ed, Talking Points Memo, 3/13/09]
Greater Unionization Could Pump $49 Billion Into the U.S. Economy. A February 2009 report by the Center for American Progress Action Fund found that a modest increase in unionization rates would help restore the broken link between productivity and wage gains, pumping tens of billions of dollars into the U.S. economy. According to the report, "If unionization rates were the same as they were in 1983 and the current union wage premium remained constant, new union workers would earn an estimated $49.0 billion more in wages and salaries per year." [Center for American Progress Action Fund, "Unions Are Good for Workers and the Economy," 2/18/09]
Many Successful U.S. Businesses Thrive with Unions. Kaiser Permanente, Harley-Davidson Motor Company, and other top companies prove that employers can be industry leaders while still respecting workers' rights. [The Labor Day List: Partnerships that Work, American Rights at Work]








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