The Center for Union Facts landed a letter in the Boston Globe this morning, challenging one celebrity’s journey into labor politics:
It is truly inspirational that Ben Affleck took a break from his intense schedule of Sox games and celebrity poker tournaments to help Service Employees International Union officials unionize Boston’s teaching hospitals (“Affleck stumps for hospital workers,” Oct. 17). Considering Affleck’s “fantastic” track record, which includes being the lead celebrity stumper for Senator Kerry’s failed presidential bid and starring in “Gigli,” the biggest blockbuster bust this millennium, the SEIU should reconsider its casting.
In all seriousness, Affleck as union front man is not just another ridiculous role. His script is a dangerous one as it undermines employee rights. Affleck has signed onto the SEIU’s drive to change federal labor rules and force hospitals to make it easier for unions to organize nurses, lab techs, etc., by eliminating a secret ballot vote.
Whenever Affleck makes his quixotic attempt for a Massachusetts elected office, he will expect (I’d hope) the voters would choose or reject him based on a secret ballot vote. Hospital workers deserve the same opportunity. Without union, or celebrity, coercion.