Backstabber Report

UnionFacts.com is Shameful Anti-Union Propaganda

UnionFacts.com is anything but union facts.

The truth is the Center for Union Facts is a secretive front group for individuals and industries opposed to union activities. It is part of lobbyist Rick Berman’s family of front groups including the Employment Policies Institute. The domain name www.unionfacts.com was registered to Berman & Co. in May 2005.

In May 2006 the Center for Union Facts, launched its first TV ad campaign. The 30-second spot, running on Fox News and local markets, has actors posing as workers speaking sarcastically about what they “love about unions,” like “paying dues,” “union leaders,” “fat-cat lifestyles,” and “discrimination against minorities.” The ad campaign cost $3 million, which was raised from companies, foundations and individuals that Mr. Berman won’t identify.

The group has since filmed additional misleading and false “informational” ads. Labor and economics professor Harley Shaiken said the effort “to create an anti-union atmosphere” that is more general in nature, as opposed to business-funded ads specifically directed against a particular union organizing drive or strike, “is a new wrinkle.” An AFL-CIO spokesperson called the ad’s accusations “unfounded and outrageous.”

We agree. The ads we’ve seen are completely laughable. The trouble is that most people who aren’t familiar with unions may not see the absurdity of the ads. UnionFacts.com uses stereotypes of union leaders being very Gambino crime family looking and speaking like a Tony Soprano soldier from New Jersey. In one ad two union leaders enter a room where an employee is negotiating his wages and demands mandatory smoking breaks and an excessive pay raise, among other demands. They duct tape the employee’s mouth as he tells them he doesn’t want any of it.

As most people who are working stiffs know, rarely will you have an opportunity to sit individually and negotiate your own wages and benefits. Companies have already structured them. Since when does a Wal-mart employee negotiate his/her own wages?

The other problem with these ads is that the arguments they make out to be bad, are in fact what is needed. When a company tells a workforce that they will only be receiving a 1% pay raise it is unions that negotiate for better. When companies try to reduce or eliminate benefits it is their union that ensures they retain them. Seniority eliminates the favoritism shown to the ass kissers, or the relative of someone in management.

What we find the most despicable is the accusation that unions discriminate against people of color. The public may not realize that it was the unions that were the first to fight for and obtain civil rights for all Americans. If it wasn’t for unions pushing for legislation to be approved and supporting the civil rights movement, such equality guaranteed by law might have been delayed for another 20 years.

A 40 hour work week, health insurance, equal pay for women, child labor laws, overtime pay, and every advancement for the working class has come about because of the unions. Every bit of it was opposed by business owners and the type of people who are funding UnionFacts.com.

The fact is that UnionFacts.com and those that secretly fund the organization are those that are the racists and want the American worker to provide labor as cheaply as possible in order that the businesses and corporations can get even wealthier on the backs of the employees.

UnionFacts.com is nothing close to being union facts. It’s a smear campaign that was created to convince the American public that the reason for our bad economy is the union’s fault and not those who are truly responsible – Our legislators, banking institutions, Wall Street malfeasance, and greedy corporations that bankrupt their companies knowing they can expect a bailout.