This started out as a shout-out to
Change to Win, the coalition labor group formed by the SEIU, UFCW, UFW and others spliting from the ALF-CIO But it has turned in to a call for action to assist our working brothers and sister in the media wars.
It all begins with a press release dated April 22, 2006 introducing their new campaign "Make Work Pay":
flip
The Make Work Pay! campaign is focused on the millions of workers who work hard every day but still fall short of the basics of the American Dream - a salary that can support a family, affordable health care, retirement security, a voice on the job, and a chance to give their kids an education and a better future. The campaign will unite workers in industries such as hospitality, construction, retail, food processing, healthcare, trucking and transportation among others.
...
The Make Work Pay campaign will also work to educate the American public about the peril faced by the American Middle Class. As CEO pay skyrockets and corporate profits surge, average workers are being left behind. Average CEO pay rose 27% last year, to $11.3 million -- more than 300 times that of average workers.
This statistic is the central point of a new TV spot and a $500,000 ad buy on cable channels. You can see the ad at their web site--and you should watch it there. Not only because it's done extremely well, but it might be the only place you're going to see it.
Turns out MSNBC and Comedy Central refuse to run the ad, claiming a policy of not running "issue ads". Or perhaps it has more to do with parent companies Viacom and General Electric not wanting people to know some inconvenient facts of the Bush wage-less recovery. Says Greg Tarpinian, Executive Director of Change to Win:
"One has to wonder if the real reason this ad isn't being run is because MSNBC and Viacom are worried that it will offend Viacom CEO Sumner Redstone, who made $24 million dollars last year, and GE CEO Jeff Immelt who made $15 million," Tarpinian said. "The people who should be offended are the millions of hard working men and women who can't even afford cable, let alone healthcare. We call on Viacom and General Electric to show this ad nationally on their networks, and acknowledge what the American people already know -- the middle class is shrinking and it's time we did something about it."
Use all of your blog powers to amplify this story. I shouldn't be the one telling you that big corporations are refusing to air ads that illustrate the ridiculous amount of money CEOs make. The lefty blog world should be all over this.
I'm an advocate of waging class warfare openly. The rich never stop fighting, why should we? And they sure are winning right now. They're more than winning. They're kicking our ass.
This Make Work Pay ad effectively targets the most sound-bitable, disgusting exuberances of the world, as I highlighted last week in a post titled "The UGLY face of capitalism". To recall:
DALLAS - A $69.7 million compensation package and $98 million pension payout to Exxon Mobil Corp.'s former chief executive and chairman Lee R. Raymond has some shareholders and economists asking, "how much is enough?"
...
On Wednesday, Exxon reported executive compensation in a regulatory filing that showed Raymond receiving $48.5 million in salary, bonuses, incentive payments and stock awards.
His compensation package also included $21.2 million from exercising stock options, which the company stopped awarding in 2001.
His $98 million pension payout reflects 43 years of service. But he would have received nearly $17 million less had he retired just last year, according to the company's 2005 proxy statement.
As Bill Maher said on his TV show this week, if the "Democrats can't turn this guy in to their own Willie Horton", they don't deserve to be in charge.
x-posted @ SoapBlox Colorado
