Rick Berman is the fellow behind "Center For Union Facts" the website that FedEx's recommends on their anti-union site.
by Seth Michaels, Jan 15, 2009
We noted yesterday the great new website, Berman Exposed, but if you want to learn more about mega-lobbyist and corporate front man Rick Berman, check out Art Levine’s latest piece, “Dr. Evil Is Baaaack,” published by In These Times.
Levine’s column focuses on a big ad buy in The Hill, Politico and other D.C. insider publications, sponsored by Berman’s misleadingly named “Center for Union Facts.” As you may have guessed, this misnamed organization is not a “center” and doesn’t provide “facts.” Instead, it’s essentially an operation through which Berman funnels big-dollar, undisclosed corporate donations into vicious anti-union messages in the media. Berman gets to play super-villain and get cited as an expert in the mainstream media, while his corporate donors hide in the shadows. Everybody wins, except workers.
In his column, Levine takes apart Berman’s bad-faith rhetoric and fact checks the false claims made about the Employee Free Choice Act in the “Center’s” latest round of ads. In particular, Levine notes the absurdity of Berman masking himself as an advocate for workers’ rights, since the goal of his operation is protecting corporate control of the process by which workers form unions.
Levine asks some great questions about Berman and the other corporate shills who serve as the well-paid face of the anti-worker campaign:
Is that the person the public and leading journalists should rely on for accurate information about the Employee Free Choice Act? Will the smears and falsehoods be able to carry the day with the new Congress?
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