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November 03, 2007 |
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Today the Las Vegas Sun looks behind conservatives' curtains and exposes the
true
intent of corporate-funded attacks on worker organizing drives. Corporate-backed adman Richard Berman is known for attacking
Mothers
Against Drunk Driving and for claiming that second-hand smoke does not
cause cancer, but his latest targets are teachers' unions. Though he
purports to fight for workers through his
Center for Union Facts front group, Rick Berman betrayed his true intent:
What's not in doubt is that when Berman goes after the teachers, it will be brutal.
At the Sparks conference, he approvingly quoted mobster Al Capone:
"You can get further with a kind word and a gun than you can with just
a kind word."
Political and labor observers are watching closely because as Berman
acknowledged in his Sparks speech, his attack on teachers unions is
really a small front in a much bigger battle over the future of the
labor movement and its role in American politics. It's not clear Berman
cares at all about education policy. His real target is the broader
labor movement.
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Read More
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October 30, 2007 |
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Just in time for Halloween,
Stephen Colbert treats PR trickster Rick Berman to a smack down for his
ludicrous campaigns against Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) and other
public interest groups. Last night on Comedy
Central's The Colbert Report, Stephen forced Berman to admit that
consumers aren't asking him to defend their freedoms. It's corporations like the
alcohol companies that are begging him to protect their profits.
Colbert: What do you do
for the Center for Consumer Freedom?
Berman: I defend
consumers' rights.
Colbert: So do consumers
come to you and say, "Defend my rights"?
Berman: No, I figure out
what's wrong with people's rights, and I -
Colbert: But who comes to
you and says, "Here, here, defend our rights"?
Berman: I get up in the
morning and I see crazy stuff and I say, "We gotta do something about that."
Colbert: Who's paying you?
Berman: Ah . . . lot's of
people.
Colbert: Who?
Berman: Ah, actually
consumers; actually businesses, and then of course -
Colbert: Businesses whose
consumers are being denied the freedom to use their product?
When not wearing his Center for
Consumer Freedom hat, Berman leads another front group, the Center for Union
Facts, which mounts smear campaigns against unions in a similar fashion to his
crusade against MADD. Last night's interview confirms that with Berman, it's all
about money at the expense of safer roads, public health, and decent jobs.
Colbert appropriately makes us laugh at Berman instead of taking his rhetoric
seriously. Check out the full
interview.
Learn more on why you
can't trust Rick Berman at the Anti-Union Network.
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August 26, 2007 |
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On Sunday, July 22, CBS's 60 Minutes reran
an interview with notorious lobbyist, anti-union spokesperson, and
Center for Union Facts founder Rick Berman. Berman is just one part of
the highly coordinated, yet virtually unknown anti-union network
responsible for the enormous obstacles workers face when trying to form
unions.
» Click here to download a fact sheet refuting Rick Berman's lies to 60 Minutes' Morley Safer.
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August 14, 2007 |
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57 million men and women would like to have a union in their
workplace for a chance to secure fair wages, affordable health care,
improved working conditions, and better rights on the job. So why
don't these workers have the basic protections of a union?
It's time the truth got out. Anti-union organizations and
for-profit 'unionbusting' consultants have greatly contributed to
workers experiencing enormous obstacles when trying to form unions.
The rise of these groups over the last few decades, their multi-million
dollar budgets, and their escalating attacks are no coincidence: it's
the result of a decades-long plan from right-wing ideologues bent on
dismantling labor organizations responsible for advancing the social
and economic interests of America's workers.
No doubt you've heard about the over-the-top anti-union ads produced by the Center for Union Facts.
The ads are the most recent, highly-visible example of the anti-union
network at work. And while there's a growing understanding about the
extensive right-wing infrastructure - responsible for dramatically
shifting public policy and altering our nation's political landscape -
a significant part of this movement has received much less attention. The anti-union network is well-financed, well-established, and well-coordinated—and yet virtually unknown.
Look behind the scenes as we expose the funding, the origins, the
tactics, the motives, and the players involved in undermining workers
and their unions.
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August 14, 2007 |
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Learn more about the range of organizations comprising the
anti-union network. We'll continue to post profiles of players and
groups in the future. Stay tuned for more.
Center for Union Facts—notorious industry lobbyist
and PR flak Richard Berman is now attacking unions through his latest
front group, in the same way he's fought against drunk driving laws,
health regulations, consumer protections, and minimum wage increases
for years.
National Right to Work Foundation and Committee—is the country's oldest organization dedicated solely to destroying unions
U.S. Chamber of Commerce—the nation's most powerful
business lobbying organization, has been campaigning against unions,
fair labor practices, and legal protections for America's workers for
nearly a century.
Public Service Research Foundation and Council—these
small, established groups supply their more prominent anti-union
colleagues with research, polling, and propaganda to fight against the
right of teachers and other public employees to have unions.
For-Profit Unionbusters—these professional
consultants or lawyers profit off their ability to manipulate labor
law, advising employers on how to thwart union organizing drives or how
to get rid of workers' unions.
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