New analysis of lobbying disclosures shows that the corporate lobbying effort against the Employee Free Choice Act is being waged largely by industry trade associations and front groups rather than by individual companies. (PDF of this report here)

Indeed, when several of the companies that have been active against employee free choice have come under criticism, they have been quick to issue statements to distance their firms from any anti-worker position.

At a time when a majority of the public favors the Employee Free Choice Act and millions of Americans are struggling while high CEO pay and corporate bonuses persist, it appears that companies are reluctant to be out front themselves against a measure that would ensure workers the freedom to gain a voice on the job for improvements.

Instead, the dirty work is being done primarily by eight business associations that are together waging a massive assault against the bill while most of their member companies keep their own names clean.

Industry associations take the lead

• The following eight trade associations were among some of the biggest spenders in lobbying against the Employee Free Choice Act in 2008: U.S. Chamber of Commerce, National Association of Manufacturers, National Restaurant Association, Food Marketing Institute, Financial Services Roundtable, Business Roundtable, Retail Industry Leaders Association, and American Hotel and Lodging Association.
• Yet the officers of these associations have largely remained silent on Employee Free Choice. Out of 37 companies which hold leadership positions on the boards of the eight industry associations above, only 8 have ever independently lobbied on the Employee Free Choice Act and representatives from only 11 have made statements on Employee Free Choice.
• Even more striking, less than 4% of the more than 1,500 companies associated with the eight industry associations have ever independently lobbied on Employee Free Choice.
• While individual companies outspent trade associations in lobbying against the Employee Free Choice Act and other pro-worker legislation in 2007, in 2008 trade associations surged ahead, filing lobbying expenditure disclosures which mention Employee Free Choice totaling $141 million ⎯ $36 million more than individual companies.

Individual companies take cover

Burger King
"Burger King Corp. (BKC) believes unions serve a purpose in some workplaces and a number of its guests, vendors and franchisees have positive union membership experiences. BKC is not anti-union. BKC and its franchisees serve a diverse consumer base and, therefore, aim to remain neutral on political issues." (Source)
⎯ Statement issued February 20, 2009 after report, video, and protests exposed efforts by Burger King to defeat the Employee Free Choice Act and shed light on other poor employment and consumer practices at the fast food company. Burger King is a member of the National Restaurant Association and the National Retail Federation.

Principal Financial
"Contrary to incorrect reports issued today, The Principal Financial Group has not taken a position on the Employee Free Choice Act, nor do we plan to take such a position. The Principal represents the interests of millions of employees and hard working Americans who participate in its employee benefit plans; as well as 35,000 employer clients, 42,000 retirement plan sponsors and its own 15,000 employees. ... We have been a frequent advocate on issues of critical importance to unions and the financial services industry, such as civil rights and pension plan funding."
(Source)
⎯ Statement issued on February 24 after Change To Win Chair Anna Burger sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner asking that Principal Financial not be considered for federal TARP money given the company's lobbying disclosures showing $2.4 million in federal government lobbying expenditures in 2008 across many issue areas, including employee free choice. Principal is a member of the Financial Services Roundtable.

McDonald's
"We regret our internal effort to keep our franchisees informed on all aspects regarding this legislation has been leaked to the press and mischaracterized as an anti-union campaign. This was not our intent. McDonald's is not engaged in an anti-union campaign. In fact, we pride ourselves on being the restaurant organization for all people -- especially during tough economic times like these. As such, we try to not take sides in political issues, because we know our customers come from all walks of life, and represent diverse opinions and backgrounds."
(Source)
⎯ Statement issued on December 22 after reports leaked that McDonalds Corp. had urged its franchisees to "contact your U.S. senators and representatives to oppose" the Employee Free Choice Act.

Key facts that may be contributing to the companies' strategy to oppose employee free choice through trade associations and distance themselves

• Today average CEO pay is 344 times higher than average pay for workers. In 1980, CEO pay was 42 times higher. In other words, the average CEO today takes home as much in one day as the average worker is paid in a year.
• By next year, median household income is projected to drop to a level lower than it was 10 years ago.
• 73% of adults favor passage of the Employee Free Choice Act (Hart Research Associates, 12/08)

Lobbying Machine
At-a-glance numbers on the combined lobbying forces of the Chamber of Commerce, National Association of Manufacturers, National Restaurant Association, Food Marketing Institute, Financial Services Roundtable, Business Roundtable, Retail Industry Leaders Association, and American Hotel and Lodging Association:

• Spent $138.4 million on lobbying in 2008 ($258,000 per member of Congress). All 8 groups lobbied against the Employee Free Choice Act.
• Hired 44 lobbying firms in 2008 (359 total lobbyists including both firms and association lobbyists).
• Used at least 34 different front groups and/or affiliates to push their agenda.
• Lobbied on hundreds of bills last year (The Financial Services Roundtable alone lobbied on 91 different bills; the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's lobbying disclosures fill 641 pages).
• The five associations with PACs gave 82% of their PAC contributions to Republicans from 2000 to 2008.

* PDF copy of report here

SEIU Leader Shares First-hand Experiences Trying to Organize Detroit Fast Food Workers in the 1980s

In 1980, the United Labor Unions set out to organize employees at Detroit fast food chains in the hopes of sparking a nationwide movement to unionize the workforce in this fast-growing industry. As a rookie organizer working on the campaign, I learned firsthand what is at stake when workers stand up for better wages, healthcare, and a voice on the job.

We started with a Burger King franchise in Detroit's Greyhound station. While the drive was a challenge, the spark spread between employees as they encouraged each other to join the union and stand up to their managers. Greyhound Food Management ran a tough campaign to keep workers from organizing -- threatening some, making promises to others -- but didn't succeed. By a margin of just one vote, the Burger King employees opted to create a union.

Encouraged by our victory, we shifted our focus to three McDonald's franchises on Detroit's North Side. The employees were struggling with all kinds of issues -- minimum wage violations, sexual harassment, unfair scheduling, and health and safety issues ranging from grill burns to meat slicer injuries. Fed up and fired up, they decided to organize a union and won overwhelming support from their co-workers. Nothing could stop them.

Or so they thought.

SEIU Leader Shares First-hand Experiences Trying to Organize Detroit Fast Food Workers in the 1980s

In 1980, the United Labor Unions set out to organize employees at Detroit fast food chains in the hopes of sparking a nationwide movement to unionize the workforce in this fast-growing industry. As a rookie organizer working on the campaign, I learned firsthand what is at stake when workers stand up for better wages, healthcare, and a voice on the job.

We started with a Burger King franchise in Detroit's Greyhound station. While the drive was a challenge, the spark spread between employees as they encouraged each other to join the union and stand up to their managers. Greyhound Food Management ran a tough campaign to keep workers from organizing -- threatening some, making promises to others -- but didn't succeed. By a margin of just one vote, the Burger King employees opted to create a union.

Encouraged by our victory, we shifted our focus to three McDonald's franchises on Detroit's North Side. The employees were struggling with all kinds of issues -- minimum wage violations, sexual harassment, unfair scheduling, and health and safety issues ranging from grill burns to meat slicer injuries. Fed up and fired up, they decided to organize a union and won overwhelming support from their co-workers. Nothing could stop them.

Or so they thought.

SEIU members and supporters went to almost 100 McDonald's locations around the country on December 18 to speak directly with employees about free choice. We wanted to share some photos and video with you all from McDonald's visits that took place in Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Detroit and Washington, DC.

Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

Video Footage from McScrooged Actions by SEIU Healthcare PA, SEIU 32BJ and SEIU Healthcare Michigan

Healthcare workers, maintenance workers, allies, staff and friends of the SEIU 32BJ and SEIU Healthcare PA went to four McDonald's restaurants to spread the word on how McD's is fighting their own workers' rights to form unions -- and the rights of millions of other Americans -- by fighting the Employee Free Choice Act. This action (in video clip below) happened at a McDonald's at 17th and Walnut -- a busy locale, and an open forum for workers fighting for their right to form a union.

SEIU Healthcare Michigan members and staff leafleted and had conversations with employees, customers and managers at three Metro-Detroit area McDonalds.

Responses from customers and passersby were very positive and expressed outrage that McDonald's is spending millions to deny their workers a voice on the job, when they could be using that money to give their employees better wages and benefits. On the flip side...reactions from employees at the locations was, for the most part, very reserved. Could this have been from the intimidation of having a manager / supervisor standing directly by each worker taking food orders and even behind the drive-thru workers?

Folks who participated in the SEIU Healthcare Michigan McScrooged actions were of the opinion that the McDonald's locations they visited knew ahead of time that they were going to protest the franchise's attempts to deny workers a voice at their workplace, due to the numerous managers and supervisors present in the restaurants. One store had six managers on duty (along with the chain's owner present).

SEIU members and supporters went to almost 100 McDonald's locations around the country on December 18 to speak directly with employees about free choice. We wanted to share some photos and video with you all from McDonald's visits that took place in Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Detroit and Washington, DC.

Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

Video Footage from McScrooged Actions by SEIU Healthcare PA, SEIU 32BJ and SEIU Healthcare Michigan

Healthcare workers, maintenance workers, allies, staff and friends of the SEIU 32BJ and SEIU Healthcare PA went to four McDonald's restaurants to spread the word on how McD's is fighting their own workers' rights to form unions -- and the rights of millions of other Americans -- by fighting the Employee Free Choice Act. This action (in video clip below) happened at a McDonald's at 17th and Walnut -- a busy locale, and an open forum for workers fighting for their right to form a union.

SEIU Healthcare Michigan members and staff leafleted and had conversations with employees, customers and managers at three Metro-Detroit area McDonalds.

Responses from customers and passersby were very positive and expressed outrage that McDonald's is spending millions to deny their workers a voice on the job, when they could be using that money to give their employees better wages and benefits. On the flip side...reactions from employees at the locations was, for the most part, very reserved. Could this have been from the intimidation of having a manager / supervisor standing directly by each worker taking food orders and even behind the drive-thru workers?

Folks who participated in the SEIU Healthcare Michigan McScrooged actions were of the opinion that the McDonald's locations they visited knew ahead of time that they were going to protest the franchise's attempts to deny workers a voice at their workplace, due to the numerous managers and supervisors present in the restaurants. One store had six managers on duty (along with the chain's owner present).

From William Whitman Jr., Vice President, Communications, McDonald's USA:

The statement below should help provide further clarification regarding McDonald's recent communication with our franchisees about the Employee Free Choice Act. Please don't hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or comments.

McDonald's Statement:

"We regret our internal effort to keep our franchisees informed on all aspects regarding this legislation has been leaked to the press and mischaracterized as an anti-union campaign. This was not our intent.

McDonald's is not engaged in an anti-union campaign.

In fact, we pride ourselves on being the restaurant organization for all people -- especially during tough economic times like these.

As such, we try to not take sides in political issues, because we know our customers come from all walks of life, and represent diverse opinions and backgrounds.

Regarding this legislation, as a restaurant organization with 3,100 independent small businesses, we have a responsibility to inform and educate our system about legislation that could impact their business. This was the intent of the communication in question.

Unfortunately, the message was leaked to the media and excerpts were used to create the impression that McDonald's is engaged in anti-union activities. Again, this was not our intent.

We appreciate the opportunity to clarify McDonald's position -- and again, we regret any misrepresentation of the facts."

William Whitman Jr.
Vice President, Communications
McDonald's USA

Yesterday SEIU members and supporters went to almost 100 McDonald's locations around the country to speak directly with employees about free choice.

From Washington, DC to Wasilla, Alaska (really!), hundreds of people told McDonald's employees how to improve their lives at work.

And guess what: we won! McDonald's issued a statement backing down from their previous opposition to the Employee Free Choice Act because of your work.

Watch a video from one of our actions, then tell your friends about our important victory.

This is an important first step in our campaign for the Employee Free Choice Act and the continued support of workers everywhere. Standing together, we can make Employee Free Choice a reality.

Please tell your friends about this incredible victory.

Statement from McDonald's here.

P.S. Did you go to a "McScrooged" event yesterday? Tell us how it went and upload photos and videos here.

Yesterday SEIU members and supporters went to almost 100 McDonald's locations around the country to speak directly with employees about free choice.

From Washington, DC to Wasilla, Alaska (really!), hundreds of people told McDonald's employees how to improve their lives at work.

And guess what: we won! McDonald's issued a statement backing down from their previous opposition to the Employee Free Choice Act because of your work.

Watch a video from one of our actions, then tell your friends about our important victory.

This is an important first step in our campaign for the Employee Free Choice Act and the continued support of workers everywhere. Standing together, we can make Employee Free Choice a reality.

Please tell your friends about this incredible victory.

Statement from McDonald's here.

P.S. Did you go to a "McScrooged" event yesterday? Tell us how it went and upload photos and videos here.

Please share with us your thoughts and comments on how the action went, and upload photos and video here as well.

(Stay tuned for upcoming videos and reports back on how actions went across the country, including photos and video)

Last week we told you that McDonald's wasn't lovin' free choice at work. Several thousand of you stood up and told the company what you think about their efforts to stop their employees' free choice.

Now we're kicking our campaign into high gear. We want to speak directly with McDonald's employees about what it's like to work for a CEO who is paid 770 times what his workers earn, leaving working families with barely enough to afford the "Dollar Menu."

We're organizing events at McDonald's locations around the country for TODAY at NOON. Can you take an hour today to go to your local McDonald's to educate McDonald's employees about free choice?

Click here to find an event at a McDonald's near you and RSVP now.

If you can't find an event near you, you can plan your own - it's easy, quick, and we provide all the materials you need.

According to published reports, the fast food giant is organizing its store owners to oppose the Employee Free Choice Act. McDonald's has reportedly even formed an "internal response team...to actively participate in the opposition to the Employee Free Choice Act."

The Employee Free Choice Act gives workers the free choice to join unions so they can bargain for better wages, benefits, and retirement security. But it's apparent that McDonald's doesn't want its employees to see any of that.

It's time for McDonald's to give workers more of the wealth they help create, and it's up to us to tell them how to do so.

Find or plan an event at a McDonald's near you TODAY at NOON to tell employees why they need free choice at work. Click here to RSVP.

Thank you for your support of McDonald's employees and workers everywhere.

UPDATE: Send McScrooge a Message They Won't Soon Forget - Here are McDonald's actions materials for today (PDFs): English 1, English 2, Spanish 1, Spanish 2. Instructions are here.

In Denver, we all committed to take an hour out of our days on Thursday, December 18, to send McDonalds to show McDonald's that irresponsible behavior will not be tolerated.

All the materials you need are at the end of this post. Simply download the files, print them out and head to a McDonald's near you (or more than one if you have a lot of people).

The action is simple:

• Each person in your group should go into the restaurant and buy any item off the menu;
• Talk to the worker behind the counter about how they feel that the CEO of McDonalds makes over $6000 per hour while the average worker earns less than $10.
• Explain how McDonalds and other companies are spending millions of dollars to defeat legislation that Barack Obama supports that would make it easier for employees to work together to improve wages and benefits.
• Give the worker one of the small flyers (1/4 page) and encourage them to go to the website and get more information. They can also text "SEIU" to 23000 on your cell phone.
• Bring a video camera or cell phone with you. Do not hide the fact that you have a camera or cell phone with camera or that you will be recording your conversations with the manager. When a "manager" asks you to leave, have a conversation about why McDonalds doesn't want its employees to work together to improve their working conditions.
• End the action by leafleting outside the restaurant for 30 minutes or so with the full page leaflet attached. If you have been asked to leave the property, go to the sidewalk or nearest public space.
• Be polite, when asked to leave, you should leave.
• Once the action is over please go to http://freechoice.seiu.org/page/s/mcreport and give us a quick update about what happened, how many people you had etc and then upload any photos or videos from the day.

We can achieve Change That Works together, starting with standing up to the enemies of change!!

McDonald's isn't lovin' free choice for its employees.

Over the weekend, Crain's Chicago Business broke the news that the fast food giant is organizing its store owners to oppose the Employee Free Choice Act. McDonald's has reportedly even formed an "internal response team...to actively participate in the opposition to the Employee Free Choice Act."

Write to McDonald's and say employees need free choice - we'll send your letters to McDonald's headquarters to make sure they get the message.

According to published reports, McDonald's is part of a coalition of wealthy business interests opposed to the Employee Free Choice Act - and not only is the coalition running ads against the Employee Free Choice Act, but it actively campaigned against pro-middle class candidates in the 2008 election.

McDonald's has more than 600,000 employees in the US, many of whom earn less than $10/hour. But last year its CEO took home more than $13 million. Now McDonald's leadership is reportedly actively organizing to prevent its employees from standing up for themselves at work.

Tell McDonald's it's not acceptable to work against their employees interests. Click here to write to McDonald's leadership and tell them to not oppose the Employee Free Choice Act.

The Employee Free Choice Act gives workers the free choice to join unions so they can bargain for better wages, benefits, and retirement security. People who join unions earn 30% higher wages and are 59% more likely to have health insurance.

It's clear that McDonald's isn't looking out for its workers. Please send a note today on behalf of McDonald's employees who just want a free choice at work.