Our friends at Americans for Job Security sent out a bulletin last month, describing the lobbying group American Rights at Work. Quoting the summary of the bulletin:
American Rights at Work (ARAW) is a non-profit organization formed in 2003 to act as a think tank and grassroots lobbying organization for organized labor. The chair of the organization’s board is Hon. David Bonior; others on the board include Senator John Edwards and Secretary of Labor Designate Congresswoman Hilda Solis. American Rights at Work receives funding from unions affiliated with both the AFL-CIO and the Change to Win coalition. Since November American Rights at Work has led labor’s public campaign for the Employee Free Choice Act.
Although these are obviously not strange bedfellows, it again flies in the face of Obama’s campaign promise to weed out obvious lobby influence in his administration. Hey – it’s who’s paying the bills! (to keep them in power, anyway). ARAW has ponied up some big money ($3 million pledged) in their campaign to promote the EFCA, by confusing the issues. Their intent is to divert the discussion from card check and mandatory arbitration to job security, employment benefits, and the economy.
