The DFL Party filed a formal complaint this week against the sponsors of two ads that slam U.S. Senate candidate Al Franken for supporting federal legislation making union organizing easier.
The television and print ads, sponsored by the independent groups Coalition for a Democratic Workplace and Minnesotans for Employee Freedom, allege that the Employee Free Choice Act, which Franken supports, would eliminate secret ballots in workplace elections over whether to approve union representation.
The DFL, in a complaint under Minnesota election laws to the Minnesota Office of Administrative Hearings, said that claim is false and that in fact the bill would guarantee the right to secret ballots.
"In Minnesota, we don't tolerate intentionally false statements in paid political advertising," said DFL chairman Brian Melendez in a statement.
The Employee Freedom Action Committee released a statement calling the DFL complaint "frivolous." J. Justin Wilson, the group's managing director, accused Melendez of "misleading the people of Minnesota in order to advance a union boss' power grab ... ."
The legislation would create a process by which a union can be certified without a secret ballot election. But the option would remain for organizers to choose the secret ballot route.
D.J. TICE
