In response to accusations fromWake Up Wal-Mart, Wal-Mart denies funding the far-right Center for Union Facts (CUF), whose creepy and misleading anti-union ads you may have seen in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times or the Washington Post. A press release from CUF amusingly registers some distress over the company’s denials; acknowledging that Wal-Mart isn’t funding the group, CUF spokeswoman Sarah Longwell says, “Come to think of it, why aren’t they?” CUF is now calling upon Wal-Mart to remedy this oversight.
Wal-Mart would be wise to give this organization a wide berth. In addition to the newspaper ads, the group maintains a website, clearly aimed at union members and undecided workers, dedicated to smearing the labor movement. Of course, there are plenty of bad things to say about unions and their leadership, many of them true; the Center is certainly not hallucinating the race and sex discrimination, corruption and lack of democracy within many of these organizations. But the website, and the ads, dishonestly imply that because unions have failings, workers would be better off with no representation at all. What CUF doesn’t mention is that workers who belong to unions enjoy higher wages, better benefits, and often, despite the “pale, male and stale” leadership — a characterization first used by Andy Stern, more recently deployed in a CUF ad — less race and sex discrimination on the job.
CUF urges readers to decertify their unions. But if CUF were really a campaign for democracy, justice and the interests of workers, unionfacts.com would instead encourage people to fight for better unions, by getting more involved in their own, ousting bad leaders by running against them in elections, and joining Teamsters for a Democratic Union, Members for Democracyor any number of other reform-minded groups within the labor movement. Or by subscribing to Labor Notes, a newsletter which has been crusading for union democracy and greater rank-and-file participation for years. But despite CUF’s slick rhetoric, democracy is not what its business and right-wing funders have in mind.
Which brings us to a serious question. If not Wal-Mart, then who is funding CUF? According to the website, the campaign is supported by “foundations, businesses, union members, and the general public.” When I asked for further clarification, CUF’s Sarah Longwell demurred, explaining the group’s “policy not to offer specific information on any of our supporters” — not a very transparent policy for a group claiming dedication to “showing Americans the truth” and professing not to be “part of a political effort” but “about education.” If anyone has any idea who CUF’s sugar daddies are, let me know. I would enjoy inflicting some pain and grief upon them, and I know I’m not alone in this.
