AFL-CIO Airing Its Pro-Union Message
The AFL-CIO went on the air with a $13-million advertising campaign Wednesday designed to improve the image of organized labor with the public--particularly young workers--and to help unions in organizing.
The 30-second spots, featuring television stars Tyne Daly of “Cagney & Lacey” and Howard Hesseman of “Head of the Class,” will be shown this month during network news, sports, prime-time and daytime entertainment programs--including “The Cosby Show,” “60 Minutes” and “All My Children.”
A second group of ads, featuring actor Jack Lemmon, will air in September, primarily during Olympic Games telecasts on NBC.
“We expect that the television ads will be seen, over the course of the campaign, in almost every American home,” AFL-CIO president Lane Kirkland said.
Kirkland announced the launch of the campaign at a news conference in Washington that was broadcast via satellite to 13 sites around the country.
The $13-million campaign is being financed by a special dues assessment on the labor federation’s 14.3 million members. The AFL-CIO spent $2.4 million for the initial network buy and an additional $2.2 million for local television ads during May and June in 13 cities, including Los Angeles, according to AFL-CIO spokesman Rex Hardesty.
A “substantial radio buy” has been made as well, Kirkland said.
This is far and away the largest expenditure the AFL-CIO has made on an advertising campaign, and it reflects a recognition that organized labor needs to use television more to present itself in a positive way to the public. Union membership has been declining for more than three decades, from a post-World War II high of 35% in 1953 to 17% last year, according to Labor Department figures.
The theme that runs through each spot is that unions give workers a voice in how they are treated on the job.
For example, in one ad, Jamie Carr, a secretary at Columbia Pictures Television in Burbank and a member of the Office and Professional Employees, says: “I’m taking time off for my baby. And it’s good to know my job will be safe.”
Then a chorus of singers chants “Union Yes,” the slogan of the campaign. That’s followed by an appearance by Hesseman, who says: “Imagine the questions our kids will have when they start to work. The world is changing. And our unions give us a voice in how things change.”
Kirkland said “the real stimulus” for the campaign was union members who complained to their leaders about negative portrayals of workers and their unions on television.
“The labor movement has a long, well-documented record of fighting for the rights and the standard of living of working Americans, but in spite of that, there are still many Americans who have serious misconceptions about what unions do and about whether or not they are necessary in today’s workplace,” Kirkland said.
The AFL-CIO expects to spend $8 million on the campaign this year and $5 million next year, and the campaign may be modified based on extensive polling, according to Nick DeMartino, deputy director of the Labor Institute of Public Affairs, the AFL-CIO’s television unit.
