Statement Regarding Georgia Ad Campaign

By Sean Gerety, Director of Telecomunications

FOR RELEASE: October 22, 2002

Thank you for coming today. I have a brief statement, after which I’ll unveil the National Right to Work Committee®'s new TV ad for Georgia, and then I’ll take your questions.

This new 60-second ad reveals a distinct contrast on the Right to Work issue between the two contenders in Georgia's U.S. Senate race this fall, Incumbent Max Cleland and Congressman Saxby Chambliss.

Congressman Saxby Chambliss, who has twice cosponsored Right to Work legislation in the House, is pledging as a Senator to continue his support for repeal of federal labor-law provisions that authorize the firing of employees for refusal to join and pay dues to a union.

The national Right to Work measure that Congressman Chambliss has consistently supported would repeal federal labor-law provisions under which eight million employees nationwide may currently be fired for refusal to pay union tribute.

Because of the supremacy of federal law, even in Georgia and the 21 other states that have enacted Right to Work laws, hundreds of thousands of employees are forced to support unions financially as a condition of employment.

You can read more about this in the fact sheet, "Federally-Imposed Forced Union Dues in Right to Work States," that I've included with your press packages.

The National Right to Work Act would end this congressionally-authorized forced unionism.

Unfortunately, Senator Max Cleland has refused to support this landmark bill since his arrival on Capitol Hill.

Instead, Senator Cleland has voted for legislation to place police and firefighters nationwide under union-monopoly control by federal mandate.

It’s really no surprise that Senator Cleland has been one of the Senate’s biggest proponents of forced-dues legislation —- after all, he’s raked in more than $369,000 in Organized Labor PAC contributions during this election alone.

What’s more, he has also gratefully accepted "in-kind" support from union bosses in the form of phone banks, get-out-the-vote drives, and forced-dues-paid-for campaign "volunteers."

Senator Cleland should stop worrying about the union-boss elite who finance his campaigns and start worrying about the nearly eight out of ten Georgians who oppose forced unionism.

Poll after poll shows that Americans support Right to Work by a nearly four-to-one margin. And support is typically even more overwhelming in Right to Work states like Georgia.

The television ad I’m about to show you will run in Georgia’s media markets starting next week.

This TV-ad buy is part of the $3.1 million that the National Right to Work Committee® is spending on targeted media and direct-mail lobbying during this fall's U.S. Senate and House campaigns.

In Georgia and in other states, the purpose of this lobbying effort is to convince candidates to oppose federal policies that authorize Big Labor to force employees to pay money to union officials, or be fired.

The record shows that the vast majority of Georgians oppose such policies. I urge Senator Cleland to renounce his past support for forced unionism, and to join Congressman Chambliss in announcing his support for the National Right to Work Act.

Thank you again for coming. I’ll play the ad for you now, and then take your questions.