Click here to watch "See Saw."

A labor advocacy group will begin airing $5 million worth of ads today -- Labor Day -- on national cable and in targeted states to press for legislation that would allow workers to organize without secret ballot elections, the Associated Press reported.

The ads, sponsored by American Rights at Work, do not name either presidential candidate, but the message of economic hardship dovetails with Democratic nominee Barack Obama’s campaign themes.

The national ads will appear on CNN and MSNBC. Localized versions will also appear in states with vulnerable Republican senators: Alaska, Maine, Minnesota, New Hampshire and Oregon. These ads, expected to air at least four weeks, urge viewers to call the senators to demand their support for the Employee Free Choice Act. They show a well-dressed, heavy-set executive seesawing with a worker and losing his advantage as more workers outweigh him.

Under current labor law, a company can demand a secret ballot election supervised by the federal government after being presented the union cards. The Employee Free Choice Act, a top priority for organized labor, would require employers to recognize unions after being presented union cards signed by a majority of eligible workers on their payrolls.

The Coalition for a Democratic Workplace, a group backed by business groups and conservative organizations, has been campaigning against the legislation with its own ads in key states.

The Senate last year blocked an effort to pass the legislation; the House approved it in March 2007.

-- Convention Nightly staff