Change to Win Ad Highlighting Out of Control CEO Pay Refused by Cable Network Parents General Electric and Viacom

Change to Win Ad Highlighting Out of Control CEO Pay Refused by Cable Network Parents General Electric and Viacom

Preserving the Middle Class Too Controversial for MSNBC and Jon Stewart

WASHINGTON, April 21 /PRNewswire/ -- Cable networks MSNBC and Comedy Central have refused to air a Change to Win ad that contrasts the vanishing middle class with runaway CEO pay.

Despite coverage of rising income inequality in mainstream publications such as the New York Times and USA Today over the last two weeks, cable network parents Viacom and General Electric refused to run Change to Win's ad, which launches its nationwide Make Work Pay! campaign.

"American democracy is threatened when pointing out that income inequality is rising and the middle class is in jeopardy is somehow controversial?" asked Greg Tarpinian, Executive Director of Change to Win, a labor federation of seven unions and 6 million members.

"One has to wonder if the real reason this ad isn't being run is because MSNBC and Viacom are worried that it will offend Viacom CEO Sumner Redstone, who made $24 million dollars last year, and GE CEO Jeff Immelt who made $15 million," Tarpinian said. "The people who should be offended are the millions of hard working men and women who can't even afford cable, let alone healthcare. We call on Viacom and General Electric to show this ad nationally on their networks, and acknowledge what the American people already know -- the middle class is shrinking and it's time we did something about it."

Change to Win is airing the ad in major markets across the country to call attention to the fact that for many hard-working Americans, a 40-hour work week no longer ensures the basics of the American Dream. We are uniting the 50 million workers in the hospitality, construction, retail, food, health care, transportation and other critical industries whose jobs are vital to our economy and cannot be outsourced. Make Work Pay! seeks to deliver all working people a paycheck that supports a family, affordable health care, retirement security and the freedom to join a union in their workplace.

About Change to Win

Founded in July 2005, Change to Win is a federation of seven unions and 6 million workers devoted to building a movement of working people with the power to provide workers a paycheck that supports a family, affordable health care, a secure retirement and dignity on the job. The seven affiliated unions are: Service Employees International Union, UNITE HERE, United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Laborers' International Union of North America, United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America and United Farm Workers of America.

The ad script follows:

TV :30 "VANISHING HOPES" 4. 13. 06

PHOTOGRAPHS OF HARD-WORKING, HONEST WORKERS. AT FIRST THEY'RE FULL SCREEN, BUT AS THE SPOT PROGRESSES THE PHOTOGRAPHS GET SMALLER AND SMALLER, AS THE BLACK SURROUNDING THEM GETS BIGGER AND BIGGER.

AVO:

They don't have golden parachutes or stock options.

They don't own vacation homes or fly on the company jet.

They are tens of millions of hard working Americans.

But while their companies' profits get fatter and fatter ...
And their CEOs get richer and richer ...

SUPER:

Average CEO pay rose 27% last year, to $11.3 million.

AVO:

Workers get left farther and farther behind.

SUPER:

After inflation, taxes, and health costs the average American worker makes less than he did in the 1960s.

AT THIS POINT, THE PHOTOGRAPH OF THE LAST WORKER IS VERY SMALL AND IT NOW VANISHES INTO A TINY DOT, THEN OFF SCREEN ALTOGETHER, LEAVING A BLACK SCREEN.

AVO:

Don't let America's middle class vanish.

CHANGE TO WIN LOGO & SUPER:
It's time to make work pay.
www.makeworkpay.org (*this link will be live on April 23rd)

AVO:
It's time to make work pay.

Source: Change to Win

CONTACT: Carole Florman of Change to Win, +1-202-721-6045, mobile:
+1-202-262-1513, carole.florman@changetowin.org

Web site: http://www.changetowin.org/

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