Lunsford is the target of new campaign on card-check legislation

In a further sign that Kentucky's U.S. Senate race will feature extensive campaigning from special interest organizations, a new one-minute radio ad began airing late last week targeting candidate Bruce Lunsford (D-Louisville) for his support of so-called "card-check" legislation.

The Employee Freedom Action Committee - a 501 (c) (4) group based out of Washington, DC - is the organization behind the newest salvo in the increasingly active Senate competition between Lunsford and incumbent U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell (R-Louisville).

"Union bosses have new scheme that makes it easier for them to harass and intimidate workers into paying costly union dues," says the ad.

"Outraged? You should be. Because Bruce Lunsford supports their new scheme meaning you and millions more may be pressured into a union against your will," it continues.

The ad also hammers on past embezzlement and racketeering charges against labor leaders and says the policy will "take away your right to a private vote."

(Listen to the ad here )

The ad is an effort by Employee Freedom to target advocates of policy related to union certification in workplaces. "Card-check" legislation - which was formalized in the failed Employee Free Choice Act of 2007 - would remove an employer's option of calling for a secret ballot vote on unionization and permit certification when a majority of employees have signed union membership cards.

"We're running a nationwide campaign that is trying to educate the public about deceptive card-check legislation that union bosses are behind," said Tim Miller, a spokesperson for the organization. "Bruce Lunsford has said he supports this deceptive legislation."

Opponents of card-check and the EFCA - including Employee Freedom and many business leaders - say the removal of the secret ballot option allows for undue coercion on the part of union leaders.

Union heads, on the other hand, say the balloting option encourages anti-union campaigning and coercion by employers.

Card-check provisions in EFCA were halted in the U.S. Senate via a filibuster threat led by Senate Republicans - McConnell among them.

Lunsford has made much of his organized labor's support of his campaign this year, going so far as to individually thank the unions which endorsed his candidacy in his primary eve victory speech on May 20. He was endorsed by the Kentucky AFL-CIO, the United Food and Commercial Workers, and the Change to Win Kentucky coalition, among others.

In past statements, he said his support of expanding health care accessibility, among other policy, was a key reason why he locked up labor support this campaign even though he struggled to do so during gubernatorial primary bids in 2003 and 2007.

Since he secured the Democratic nomination, Lunsford has already been associating himself with organized labor. Earlier this month, he participated in a workday program sponsored by the Service Employees International Union at a Louisville high school.

Miller indicated ads on card-check policy were currently being run in eight states - including Mississippi and Louisiana - targeting supporters of card-check and lauding its opponents.

"We are going to continue to run ads on the card-check issue between now and the end of the year," said Miller.

Miller said further radio ads as well as newspaper and television efforts would be part of the extended campaign by Employee Freedom.

Employee Freedom has previously targeted supporters of the EFCA in the past, including U.S. Rep Tom Allen (D-Maine), himself embroiled in an effort to win a Senate seat from a Republican who opposes card-check legislation.

The organization is categorized as a 501 (c) (4) non-profit, similar to MoveOn.org and the National Rifle Association. Contributions to such an organization need not be disclosed by recipients, but are also not tax-deductible for donors.

501 (c) (4) organizations may also engage in political campaigning and lobbying, though campaign efforts may not be legally coordinated with a candidate's own campaign.

Other special interest groups have already run ads targeting Kentucky's Senate competition thus far. McConnell has been on the receiving end of radio ads sponsored by the Sierra Club as well as organized protests by local MoveOn.org supporters.

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