Well, most of the media might be taking the weekend off for the holidays, but you can count on Fox News to keep working and pumping that propaganda out there day in and day out. What would Christmas Eve be without some good old-fashioned union bashing from Republican corporate shill Barbara Comstock?

Comstock is terribly upset about a new rule being proposed by the National Labor Relations Board. More on that from the AFL-CIO's blog.

Proposed NLRB Rule Requires Employers to Post Workers’ Rights:

Most workers have seen notices about their right to a minimum wage or safe workplace posted in the company break room or elsewhere on the job. Employers are required to post those notices by federal law.

But there is no requirement for employers to post any sort of notice about workers’ rights under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), including the right to form a union. Now, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is proposing a rule that would require employers to post such notices in the workplace.

AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka says the proposed rule is “a common sense policy needed in today’s workplace.” Every working person in America deserves to know his or her rights… [The rule]…ensures that workers’ rights are effectively communicated in the workplace. It is necessary in the face of widespread misunderstanding about the law and many workers’ justified fear of exercising their rights under it.

According to the proposed rule, published in the Federal Register, the NLRB believes that many employees protected by the NLRA are unaware of their rights under the statute. The intended effects of this action are to increase knowledge of the NLRA among employees, to better enable the exercise of rights under the statute, and to promote statutory compliance by employers and unions.

More there with some specifics on the proposed rule, so go read the rest. But according to WFI's Comstock, this is going to harm small businesses. She also blames unions for the outsourcing that's gone on in America and pretty well destroyed the economy in places like Detroit. Yeah Barbara, it's not the greedy CEO's or our crappy trade laws that reward companies for shipping jobs overseas or the fact that our health care costs are so high. It's the dirty f#%king hippie union members fault.

And of course the "fair and balanced" Fox News didn't put anyone from labor on to counter Comstock, or bother to inform their viewers just whose interests she's really looking out for. Here's more on her organization, the Workforce Fairness Institute:

The Workforce Fairness Institute (WFI) describes itself as "an organization committed to educating voters, employers, employees and citizens about issues affecting the workplace."

WFI's website lists among its "allied groups" the Coalition for a Democratic Workplace, Rick Berman's Center for Union Facts, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Federation of Independent Business.

Yeah, those groups are all just looking out for the little people and those small businesses, don't ya' know. And here's more on their funding. Sounds a whole lot like Dick Armey's Freedom Works or the US Chamber of Commerce with them not wanting to disclose exactly who's paying their bills. I can't imagine why.

Neil Golub, CEO of the Golub Corporation, "has raised millions of dollars from the industry for The Workforce Fairness Institute, one of the main coalitions working to defeat" EFCA, reported the States News Service in January 2009. [8] When asked by the New York Times, WFI's Mark McKinnon "would not say which companies are financing the institute, founded by several longtime Republican operatives." [9]

On its website WFI states that it "is funded by and advocates on behalf of business owners who enjoy good working relationships with their employees, and would like to maintain those good relationships without the unfair interference of government bureaucrats, union organizers and special interests." [1]

And who are their personnel? Big players in the Republican party and big business shills of course.

• Katie Packer Executive Director [10]
• Mark McKinnon [11]
• Barbara Comstock [12]
• Danny Diaz

The Workforce Fairness Institute "employs Former Bush ad man Mark McKinnon, former White House Political Director Sara Taylor, Mitt Romney aides Barbara Comstock and Katie Packer, powerhouse conservative PR firm CRC, GOP Web gurus Patrick Ruffini, Mindy Finn and Patrick Hynes and former RNC Communications Director [Danny] Diaz," reported Politico.com. [13]

Barbara Comstock is a founding partner of the Corallo Comstock public relations and lobbying firm [14], which counts the National Association of Broadcasters and -- until January 2009 -- the Hearst Corporation among its clients. [15]

That name Mark McKinnon sound familiar? Of course it does to anyone who reads this blog since he's one of the founders of the latest Republican re-branding effort, No Labels. Hey Mark, I've got a label for you buddy... union buster.

Here's how the AFL-CIO described the Workforce Fairness Institute (got to love the names these people come up with for these groups, don't you?) in their post on who is opposed to the Employee Free Choice Act. Take a look at the other groups listed there as well.

Who They Are: National Journal calls them a “stealth group” that refuses to reveal their funding base. [xii] This group was formed by corporate lobbyists and public relations shills specifically to block the Employee Free Choice Act through public campaigns.

Money spent on anti-worker campaign: “One source says the WFI is trying to raise as much as $10 million for its operations.” [xiii]

All these people care about is taking care of their wealthy donors and them having access to cheap labor. And they could give a hoot about small businesses, how many Americans are hurting or creating jobs in the United States. But Fox is going to roll this shill out on Christmas Eve and let her blame our economic woes on unions and working people who dare to demand a living wage and benefits.