A new video posted last week on YouTube addresses captive audience meetings conducted by employers to discuss union organizing efforts. This video is entitled simply, “ Mandatory Meetings.”

Unlike the AFL-CIO’s campy “Browbeating ” video, which advocates passage of the Employee Free Choice Act, the “Mandatory Meetings” video argues for passage of the Worker Protection Act in Oregon.

The Worker Protection Act, which recently passed the Oregon House and is pending in that state’s Senate, is a key part of the AFL-CIO’s strategy to use state legislatures to curb opposition to union organizing.

The Oregon Worker Protection Act, which is virtually identical to the model text available at the Center for Policy Alternatives website , would prohibit employers from requiring employees “to attend a meeting or participate in any communications with the employer or its agents or representatives, the purpose of which is to communicate the employer’s opinion about religious or political matters.” The term “political matters” is expressly defined to include “the decision to join or not join any lawful political, social or community group or activity or any labor organization.”

A similar bill, entitled, the “ Worker Freedom from Employer Intimidation Act ” became law in New Jersey in 2006, and Oregon is just one of many states have taken up the measure during 2007 legislative sessions.

These laws, which will not doubt face challenges on federal preemption and constitutional grounds, illustrate the scope of labor’s legislative agenda and reflect the impressive creativity it is bringing to the task. Labor strategists post videos like “Browbeating” and “Mandatory Meetings” on You Tube, and then “bloggers” and emailers get the word out in a very cost-effective fashion.

Labor’s talented spin extends to the name of the model legislation – who would ever oppose something called the “Worker Protection Act?”  And the spin continues in the public relations campaign, as reflected in this sound bite in Colorado last year, which made no mention of union organizing:

Do you think your boss has the right to tell you how to vote? How about which church you should belong to? Your opinion on the war in Iraq? These are personal choices that every person should be able to decide on his or her own, without feeling forced, intimidated or coerced.

With that freedom in mind, the Colorado legislature has passed House Bill 1314 , the Worker Freedom Act, to prevent employer abuses and establish minimum worker protections when it comes to issues of religion or politics in the workplace. The bill is headed to Gov. Bill Owens’ desk, where he can choose to veto or sign it into law.

(Note: Colorado’s Republican Governor, Bill Owens, vetoed HB 1314 on May 26, 2006 . His successor, Democrat Bill Ritter, has already become a key target of the labor lobby for his failure to follow the union agenda .)