Video: Meet Boss Bigman and Find Out Why We Need Employee Free Choice

by James Parks, Sep 10, 2008

Today’s workplace is so out of whack that CEOs rake in millions of dollars while the workers who make the profits struggle to make ends meet. And when they try to get a better life by joining a union, they often get the boot.  

The workers’ advocacy group American Rights at Work has launched a campaign to pass the Employee Free Choice Act, which will restore balance in the workplace. This week, the organization teamed up with the award-winning producers at Brave New Films to make a humorous—but, unfortunately, true-to-life—video. (See video here.) 

The video features Charles Bigman, a fictitious CEO, welcoming new employees to his company. Bigman tells the new hires he is a “softy” toward his employees—that’s why, out of the generosity of his heart, he’s given them a Styrofoam cooler and a bottle of soda while he sails away on his new yacht. An employee at Bigman’s company can be fired for being pregnant or maybe having the potential to get pregnant; for getting sick, old or fat. And, above all else, employees can expect a pink slip if they form a union or support the Employee Free Choice Act. After all, says Bigman: 

If it becomes easier for you to join a union, then it becomes harder for me to buy one of those private islands in Dubai. 

After you check out the video, click here to sign a petition urging Congress to pass the Employee Free Choice Act. We’re trying to get 1 million signatures in support of the Employee Free Choice Act to present to the new Congress and president in January.  

This Friday, you can watch an online show featuring AFL-CIO President John Sweeney discussing the truth behind the video and the Employee Free Choice Act on the weekly Brave New Films show, “Meet the Bloggers.” Tune to http://MeetTheBloggers.org this Friday, Sept. 12, at 1 p.m. EST /10 a.m. PST.

On Labor Day, American Rights at Work launched a national TV ad campaign to inform the public about the critical issues facing America’s struggling middle class. The ads are part of a coordinated effort among workers’ rights advocates, progressives and the union movement to make passage of the legislation a major issue in the 2008 election.

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