Iowa Controversy over TV ad
Iowa Controversy over TV ad
Date: Friday, January 02, 2004 1:50 AM
JOB DESTRUCTION NEWSLETTER
www.ZaZona.com
In Iowa, a controversy is brewing over a TV and radio ad campaign that
strikes out against the importation of foreign labor. It appears that
the labor unions and presidential candidate John Kerry don't like the
pro-American message. Kerry blasted the TV ad, saying it was "meant to
scapegoat and turn Iowans against one another." Kerry may have a point
since the ad criticizes companies that prefer to hire cheap foreign
labor and offshore jobs to other countries. Many unions have decided
that illegal aliens can be recruited into the unions so they have
decided to support amnesty and guest-worker visas.
I haven't seen the video but I would like to publish comments by those
that have. (Be sure to indicate in your response whether I can use your
name.)
The TV ad was done by an organization that helped to defeat Senator
Spencer Abraham (R-MI) from public office - and they did it by putting
ads on TV that criticized his support for H-1B. You can bet that the
cheap labor lobby and their lap dogs like Kerry are running scared
because they know how vulnerable they are if the public finds out that
they are working to destroy jobs of Iowa residents.
More info on the Coalition for the Future of the American Worker (CFAW)
follows the Des Moines article along with information that will explain
what you can do to keep these ads on the air.
http://desmoinesregister.com/news/stories/c4789004/23148745.html
Labor leaders blast TV ads by anti-immigration group
By BRIANNA BLAKE and JONATHAN ROOS
01/01/2004
Iowa labor leaders Wednesday urged TV stations to pull anti-immigrant
political ads that appear to represent a coalition of Iowa workers.
"They don't represent anybody in the labor movement in Iowa," said Iowa
Federation of Labor President Mark Smith.
The ads, airing on KCCI and WHO television stations in central Iowa,
call on the presidential candidates to change their positions on
allowing more immigrant workers into the United States. The image of a
fist hitting a punching bag, printed with a human face, is shown while
a narrator talks about foreign workers dragging down wages and taking
jobs away from Iowans.
"Tell the candidates it's time to take a stand for Iowa's workers," the
narrator says.
Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry, campaigning Wednesday in
western Iowa, blasted the ad campaign, saying it was "meant to
scapegoat and turn Iowans against one another." Kerry, a U.S. senator
from Massachusetts, said immigration reform is needed"so that people
don't have to die in the desert to find a better life for themselves."
Union officials said the Coalition for the Future of the American
Worker, the out-of-state group that produced the ad, works under the
guise of labor and is trying to pit Iowa-born workers against immigrant
workers during the last few weeks before the Jan. 19 caucuses.
"It's just racist stuff with no factual basis," said Smith, who
represents some 135,000 workers in Iowa. "In effect, what they're
saying is that the state would be better if we got rid of all the
immigrants."
Organized labor in Iowa has supported immigrants and worked to help
organize them, officials said. In September, Iowa labor unions
sponsored the nationwide Immigrant Workers Freedom Ride, saying the
best way to prevent immigrants from lowering American wages is to give
them legal status and to unionize them.
"We are in favor of changing the standard to let immigrants come here
easier," said Dan Albritton, president of the South Central Iowa
Federation of Labor. "There are companies right here in Iowa
encouraging illegal immigration, and they're the ones exploiting these
immigrants."
Roy Beck, spokesman for the Coalition for the Future of the American
Worker, said the ad is part of a national campaign unfolding over the
next few months.
"We don't represent any union members in Iowa, but we do represent the
interest of labor," said Beck.
Beck said the coalition doesn't consider itself to be anti-immigrant.
Labor officials and anti-bigotry organizations disagree.
"The Coalition for the Future of the American Worker is one of the many
fronts created by national anti-immigrant groups to conceal their
agenda," said Devin Burghart of the Center for New Community, an
anti-bigotry group based in Chicago. "The so-called coalition is
actually the creation of the two largest anti-immigrant organizations,
the Washington, D.C.-based anti-immigrant group, Federation for
American Immigration Reform, or FAIR, and the Virginia-based Americans
for Immigration Control."
In past years, FAIR purchased similar anti-immigration ads in Iowa
shortly before the party caucuses that launch the presidential
nominating process.
Burghart said that both AIC and FAIR in the past have received more
than $1.4 million from the white supremacist foundation known as the
Pioneer Fund. The Pioneer Fund was founded in 1937 to further the cause
of purifying the American gene pool by encouraging the descendants of
white colonialists to procreate, Burghart said.
"The ads are not designed to bring jobs to Iowa," said Burghart.
"Instead, they are an attempt to promote fear, hatred and intolerance."
According to the 2000 Census, Hispanics are Iowa's largest immigrant
group.
There are about 25,600 Hispanic workers in Iowa, according to 2001 U.S.
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission data. More than half of
Hispanic workers are employed in blue-collar jobs, such as those at
meatpacking plants or construction sites. Not all Hispanic workers are
immigrants; the commission keeps data only by race and ethnicity.
Smith warned of groups who create misconceptions about immigrant
workers and labor organizations.
"They present their message subtly and play on people's economic fears.
There's all kinds of things we could do to improve our economy instead
of scapegoating certain groups of people."
TV ad script
VIDEO: Open on a punching bag dummy in hardhat and construction worker
clothes. Suddenly a fist enters the frame and hits the dummy.
ANNCR: How much longer can Iowa workers be the punching bags for greedy
corporations and politicians?
VIDEO: Fist hits dummy again
ANNCR: First, meatpackers replaced Iowans with thousands of foreign
workers.
VIDEO: Fist hits dummy again
ANNCR: Next, they cut wages in half.
VIDEO: Fist hits dummy again, and names of amnesty and guestworker
bills scroll over the screen.
ANNCR: Now, politicians want new laws to import millions more foreign
workers and give amnesty to illegal aliens.
VIDEO: Cut to shot of fully deflated dummy.
ANNCR: Tell the candidates it's time to take a stand for Iowa's
workers. Tell them no more foreign workers and no amnesty for millions
here illegally.
VIDEO: Cut to logo, tag and website
COALITION FOR THE FUTURE AMERICAN WORKER
202-332-8025
www.americanworker.org
ANNCR: Paid for by the Coalition For The Future American Worker.
Radio ad script
ANNCR: What are the greedy corporations and the politicians going to do
to the people of Iowa next?
For years now the meat packing industry has recruited thousands of low
wage foreign workers for jobs once held by Iowans, cutting wages by
nearly half. The results affect almost every person in the state.
Some schools now require full time translators on staff to cope with
the influx of non-English speaking students.
Taxpayers have been stuck with millions of dollars of expenses for
jailing law-breaking illegal immigrants. Even Iowa health care is
affected. Primarily because Iowa is the illegal home to thousands of
immigration cheaters who take jobs, drive down wages and drive up
taxes.
Now, politicians are considering new laws that would import millions
more foreign workers and give amnesty to millions of illegal aliens,
encouraging even more illegal immigration.
Tell the candidates no more foreign workers and no amnesty for illegal
aliens. Tell them the people of Iowa have had enough.
Paid for by the Coalition For the Future American Worker.
About the CFAW
The Coalition for the Future American Worker has been around for more
than five years. Its website link is:
http://www.americanworker.org/
The Coalition describes itself as "an umbrella organization of
professional trade groups, population/environment organizations, and
immigration reform groups. CFAW was formed to represent the interests
of American workers and students in the formulation of immigration
policy."
Members include:
American Engineering Association
BrainSavers.org
The Programmer's Guild
American Council for Immigration Reform
American Immigration Control
AMERICANS FOR BETTER IMMIGRATION (ABI)
FAIR Congressional Taskforce
Immigration Political Action Committee
POP.STOP
Virginians for Immigration Control
National Association for the Employment of Americans (NAEA)
American Jobs Coalition
AmericanLaborFirst.com
CitizensLobby.com
Hire American Citizens Professional Society
ZaZona.com
No More H-1B
The Rescue American Jobs Foundation
Information Technology Professional Association of America (ITPAA)
U.S. 1st
CONTACTING THE REGISTER
Read this Des Moines Register article in today's paper:
http://desmoinesregister.com/news/stories/c4789004/23148745.html
Would you please contact the Register reporters and editor in one of
the
following ways and express your opinions as union-related individuals?
SEND LETTER TO THE EDITOR:
Word limit: None, but most publications prefer 250 words or less
E-mail:
letters@dmreg.com
Or send from this page:
http://desmoinesregister.com/help/letter.html
PHONE ONE OF THE REPORTERS OF THE STORY AND BE WILLING TO TALK TO AN
EDITOR
Here are all of the Newsroom contacts if you want to choose:
http://desmoinesregister.com/help/newsroom.html
ACTION for those in Iowa-----List of TV stations with phone numbers to
call
There is a real question about whether the Coalition for the Future
American Worker (CFAW) ads will remain on the Iowa TV stations much
longer if the stations don't start hearing from a lot of Iowans saying
they like the ads.
The Iowa groups that call themselves Human Rights Groups are waging a
ferocious phoning campaign to the TV stations demanding that they pull
the ads.
It will be much easier for the TV stations to keep the ad money and to
tell critics that they also are hearing from tons of people who like
the ads and that the nature of political ads is that lots of people who
see them don't like them.
But they need your calls to them to be able to say that.
The following are the TV stations that are running the ads. Please call
any station which you can receive on your TV.
Running on these Des Moines TV stations
KCCI-CBS 515-247-8888
WHO-NBC 515-242-3500
Will run soon on these Des Moines (just call these and say in a general
way that you love the TV ads that are running defending Iowa workers
from importing foreign workers):
KDSM-FOX-515-287-1717
WOI-ABC-515-457-9645.
Running on Sioux City stations:
KCAU 712-277-2345
KMEG 712-277-3554
KTIV 712-239-4100 (toll free 1-800-234-5848)
Running on Cedar Rapids stations:
KCRG 319-398-8422
KGAN 319-395-9060 (toll free 1-800-642-6140)
KWWL 319-291-1200
Your phone message
After reading the ad copy below, call the stations and say something
like one of the following:
* Thanks for running the ads about the punching bag and protecting
American workers.
* Those punching bag ads are great. Thanks for running them.
* I am so glad to finally see the issue of immigration showing up on TV
in those ads.
* I read (heard) that a bunch of groups are trying to get you to stop
running those punching bag ads. I just want you to know that my vote is
for keeping them on the air.
* You need to know that most Iowans totally agree with those ads about
importing workers and hurting Iowa workers. I hope you won't stifle our
free speech by giving in to the protestors who are trying to stop the
ads.
* I'm so glad those immigration ads are running. Maybe they'll get the
presidential candidates to talk about an issue that is really big on
most Iowans' minds.
You should be prepared to answer any question about why you like the
ads. Talk about depressed wages, or the insanity of importing workers
when the number of jobs is declining. The insanity of importing workers
to depress wages when low wages are the main reason so many Iowa kids
leave the states as soon as they get out of school.
You will have your own reasons.
Do your best not to say anything negative about immigrants themselves
and be humane even when you talk about illegal aliens. Emphasize that
this is a public policy that is bringing great harm to Iowans. Maybe
you'll want to argue that reducing future immigration will be of great
benefit to immigrant workers already in Iowa.
You probably won't get much time to talk at all. So be prepared to make
your main point immediately.
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