The Secret Relationship Between DOL And Anti-Union Lobbyist
Dept. Of Labor Marketing Anti-Union Propaganda to Employees
(Excerpts of CREW’s June 22, 2006 Press Release) Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) released 108 pages of documents it received from the Department of Labor (DOL) in response to a CREW Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit over records DOL has regarding contacts between DOL and conservative lobbyist and executive director of the anti-union group Center for Union Facts, Richard Berman.
On March 14, 2006, CREW requested from DOL all records related to or mentioning Richard Berman and the Center for Union Facts, the Employment Policies Institute Foundation, and the Center for Consumer Freedom. CREW sent the FOIA request after reading a March 13, 2006 column by Al Kamen in The Washington Post reporting that Lynn Gibson, an aide in DOL’s public liaison office, sent an email to DOL employees identifying unionfacts.com as a website “dedicated to providing information on labor unions and their expenditures.” Because DOL refused to comply with CREW FOIA’s request, on April 25, 2006, CREW sued DOL for the records, compelling DOL to provide the records.
The email correspondence between DOL and unionfacts.org staff show a close and supportive relationship between the two entities. For example, the documents include correspondence showing that DOL Secretary Elaine Chao agreed to be profiled for one of Richard Berman’s many conservative organizations, the First Jobs Institute.
The documents include an email indicating that Lynn Gibson set up a meeting between Berman and DOL staff. In another, Ms. Gibson tells a CUF staff person that she will send out emails related to CUF’s website to her “network.” Additionally, the e-mails obtained by CREW and sent out by DOL staff, include an op-ed drafted by Berman, anti-union newspaper accounts as well as anti-union blogs and news releases.
source: St. Cloud, MN. APWU President Michael Kaehler via 21st Century Postal Worker
Links from Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington:
COMPLAINT FOR DECLARATORY JUDGMENT AND INJUNCTIVE RELIEF-[pdf]
July 16th, 2006 at 9:42 pm
Ever met a person willing to sell his or her soul to Satan for a government paycheck? Say hello to a DOL claims representative or hearing representative.
July 23rd, 2006 at 10:17 pm
say hello to a republican
January 2nd, 2007 at 4:24 pm
That’s funny. All this talk about Dept of Labor and safety talk and NO ONE talks about the ever increasingly dangerous daily practice of THREE BUNDLE CARRYING. I only have two arms for a reason and how this even got pass OSHA and the DOL is beyond me. Three times a week I’m trying to perform this tedious and infuriating routine without even an option of carrying the mail the best way I know how.
so much for employee consideration and appreciation.