Reason’s Michael Moynihan on the SEIU Chavistas

At Reason Hit & Run, Michael C. Moynihan looks at the Service Employees Internatinoal Union’s harassing of broadcasters who air ads opposing the so-called Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA).

According to this letter obtained by TPM, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) is threatening television stations broadcasting this anti-card check advertisement produced by the Employee Freedom Action Committee. In the letter (viewable here), SEIU lawyer Dora V. Chen tells stations in Arkansas and Nebraska that they should “immediately cease airing this false and deceitful advertisement.” Says Ms. Chen, “political organizations do not have a ‘right to command the use of broadcast facilities'”—i.e., airing third party political advertisements television stations are not bound by the First Amendment—reminding station executives that they are under “no legal obligation to air the advertisement” but it they do the affiliate “bears responsibility for its content.” If the Chavista implications of these threats are still unclear, the SEIU puts it in sharper relief, obliquely threatening the station’s broadcast licenses…

Moynihan aptly describes SEIU’s tactics as “Chavista,” but it shouldn’t be surprising. Under Andy Stern, its current head, SEIU has a long history of bullying not only its opponents, but also other unions, its own employees, and officials of its own local unions. The only thing that could make Stern’s (purple) reign worse would be for him to start making five-hour marathon speeches while wearing a  beret.

For much more on SEIU, see here.

For the ad SEIU hates (and I like), click below: