Speaking Of Union Busting

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by Mark Adams

I don't believe the U.S. Department of Labor's mandate is to is to promote anti-labor, union busting organizations.  Neither does Jordan Barab of Confined Space.

The folks at CREW obtained E-mails between the office of Labor Secretary Elaine Chao and conservative lobbyist and executive director of the anti-union group Center for Union Facts, Richard Berman through the Freedom of Information Act, which shows that the Department of Labor is actively anti-labor.  In the words of Confined Space:

Those younger than a certain age may not remember that the law of the land encourages the formation of labor unions, and that the Department of Labor was created to improve the working conditions and welfare of working people.  Yet, these days the sole purpose of the Department of Labor seems to be ignoring workers and acting as if all unions are mafia offspring that deserve about as much sympathy as Al Queda.

Barab, a former Labor Liaison for OSHA who 16 years running AFSCME's health and safety program, has been documenting the fact that Berman's "Union Facts" is neither factual nor about anything much but the destruction of organized labor.

The FOIA request -- which has the promise to bring out even more "smoking guns" now that Secretary Chao has claimed some of the Department's communiques with Berman are privileged -- documents "a close and supportive relationship between the two entities," to the point where the Department actively distributed an "op-ed drafted by Berman, anti-union newspaper accounts as well as anti-union blogs and news releases".

Also, in addition to promoting Berman's web-site as "dedicated to providing information on labor unions and their expenditures," the Secretary herself agreed to be profiled by one of Berman's front groups.

Look, you don't like Unions?  Fine.  You're misguided, but entitled to your opinion.  In fact you can campaign against them, lobby against them as Berman does.  Be a hired gun for corporations and fight against them, making a buck or $8 million along the way.  This is America, an allegedly free country.

But the Department of Labor was not created as a marketing tool to spread anti-union propaganda.  In fact, it's very purpose is to promote the rights of workers to organize.  Like it or not, hate unions or love them -- not only is collective bargaining a right in this country, but the government is supposed to protect that right, not work against it.

Hey, maybe the Labor Secretary and her staff are just incompetent.  Too dumb to realize that not every group with the word "union" in their name is,

"encouraging the practice and procedure of collective bargaining and by protecting the exercise by workers of full freedom of association, self-organization, and designation of representatives of their own choosing, for the purpose of negotiating the terms and conditions of their employment or other mutual aid or protection."

Protecting and encouraging unions is what the National Labor Relations Act says is the "Declared policy of the United States."  We have no business doing official government business with a paid hit-man for union-busters like Berman.

Heckuvajob they're doing at Chao's office.

(Tip 'O D'Hat to Linkmeister Avedon.  Wag of the finger, as always, to the Bush Administration and their corporate minders)