Chamber Wins Grassroots Award

 

The U.S. Chamber earned the Public Affairs Council's Grassroots Innovation Award for its successful, groundbreaking 2007 online grassroots campaign to rally businesses and the public against union card check legislation, which would all but eliminate secret ballot elections in union organizing campaigns in favor of a card check process.

 

"This project demonstrated that online business activists can be just as effective as those who campaign on the steps of the Capitol," says Chamber Senior Vice President for Political Affairs and Federation Relations Bill Miller. "We've created a new model for grassroots activism that can and will be used in future legislative battles."

 

The Chamber and the Adfero Group, a public affairs firm, were recognized for creating a virtual march on Washington in opposition to card check legislation. More than 6,000 business supporters created a virtual "self" and added their customized icons to a satellite image of the National Mall showing the strength and broad support of the Chamber's campaign. The virtual march was part of a massive, multifaceted grassroots lobbying campaign that generated more than 30,000 contacts with Capitol Hill in less than five days, leading to the legislation's eventual defeat.

 

"Our members understand that card check would let unions overrun private employers and expose workers to intimidation and coercion by forcing them to decide whether or not to join a union in the presence of union organizers and supporters," Miller says. "The virtual march enabled them to register their concerns instantaneously. We have a powerful tool at our disposal as we get ready to engage on the issue again this year."

 

View the march at www.uschamber.com/goto/cardcheckmarch.