[sudo-discuss] uncovering smear campaigns

[Romy Ilano]

"the war of the future is a mental war"

how could we uncover smear campaigns like this one? this is an interesting
topic I'd like to explore.


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 [image: Lee Fang] Lee Fang <http://www.thenation.com/blogs/lee-fang>

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 Investigating the intersection of politics, lobbying and public policy.
  Former Walmart Exec Leads Shadowy Smear Campaign Against Black Friday
Activists<http://www.thenation.com/blog/177376/former-wal-mart-exec-leads-shadowy-smear-campaign-against-black-friday-activists>
Lee Fang <http://www.thenation.com/authors/lee-fang> on November 26, 2013 -
3:16 PM ET


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As activists continue to organize demonstrations at McDonalds, Walmart and
other low-wage firms, big
protests<http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/21/walmart-protests-2013_n_4319420.html>are
planned against retailers for mistreating their workers this Black
Friday. In response, union-busting consultants are ramping up efforts to
marginalize them.

Last night—Worker Center Watch, a new website dedicated to attacking
labor-affiliated activist groups like OUR Walmart, Restaurant Opportunities
Center, and Fast Food Forward—began
sponsoring<https://twitter.com/WC_Watch>advertisements on Twitter to
promote smears against the protests planned
for Black Friday. In one video sponsored by the group, activists demanding
a living wage and better working conditions for workers are portrayed as
lazy “professional protesters” who “haven’t bothered to get jobs
themselves.”

“This Black Friday, just buy your gifts, not their lies,” instructs the
Worker Center Watch narrator. Watch it:

Worker Center Watch has no information its website about its sponsors. Yet
the group attacks labor activists and community labor groups for lacking
transparency. “Hiding behind these non-profits, unions mask their true
motivations, circumvent operational requirements and skirt reporting and
disclosure obligations,” says
<http://www.workercenterwatch.com/about/>Worker Center Watch,
referring to labor-supported worker centers like OUR
Walmart.

TheNation.com has discovered that Worker Center Watch was
registered<http://whois.polodomains.com/domain/O88QLBx68p8YKICdThulRHN1yWAQng29_info.html>by
the former head lobbyist for Walmart. Parquet Public Affairs, a
Florida-based government relations and crisis management firm for retailers
and fast food companies, registered the Worker Center Watch website.

The firm is led by Joseph
Kefauver<http://www.parquetpa.com/index.php/who-we-are/>,
formerly the president of public affairs for Walmart and government
relations director for Darden Restaurants. Throughout the year, Parquet
executives have
toured<http://www.cueinc.com/pdf/conferences/2013_fall_conference_flyer.pdf>the
country, giving
lectures<http://www.steptoe.com/assets/htmldocuments/2012%20LABOR%20CONFERENCE%20BROCHURE%20-%20WEB%20ONLY.pdf>to
business groups on how to combat the rise of what has been called
“alt-labor.” At a
presentation<http://www.scribd.com/doc/187341531/New-Labor-Management-Challenges-Kefauver>in
October for the National Retail Federation, a trade group for
companies
like Nordstrom and Nike, Kefauver’s presentation listed protections against
wage theft, a good minimum wage and mandated paid time off as the type of
legislative demands influenced by the worker center protesters.

The presentation offered
questions<http://www.scribd.com/doc/187341531/New-Labor-Management-Challenges-Kefauver>for
the group, including: “How Aggressive Can We Be?” and “How do We
Challenge the Social Justice Narrative?”

It seems retailers are now experimenting with how aggressive they can be.
Today, Parquet’s Worker Center Watch
posted<https://twitter.com/WC_Watch/status/405307792073842689>a link
to a Breitbart News story featuring a video allegedly obtained by
someone who infiltrated an Occupy activist group planning to demonstrate
against Walmart.

The alarm at how quickly the new organizing model has taken off has sparked
anxiety among business executives. Littler Mendelson, a law firm that helps
companies defeat labor unions, released a
report<http://www.littler.com/category/wordpress-category/union-front-organizations>outlining
the challenge for corporate executives. The US Chamber of
Commerce, a dark-money group that counts Walmart and McDonalds as members,
produced<http://www.uschamber.com/press/releases/2013/november/us-chamber-report-shows-union-front-groups-receiving-millions>a
similar study last week.

Corporations fear that the new wave of activism could have a multiplier
effect that goes way beyond better pay and benefits for their workers.

Please support our journalism. Get a digital subscription for just
$9.50!<https://subscribe.thenation.com/servlet/OrdersGateway?cds_mag_code=NAN&cds_page_id=122425&cds_response_key=I12SART1>

In a webinar hosted this month for business executives seeking a
“union-free workplace,” Nancy Jowske
explained<http://lrionline.com/webinar-black-friday-update>that the
alt-labor model could heavily influence millennials and their
perceptions of labor unions. “One of the things to consider about what’s
going there with SEIU’s Fight for 15 and all of this is the millennial
generation,” said Jowske, a former SEIU organizer turned union-buster,
“they are getting a steady diet of pro-union from every possible
direction." She added, "this is also a generation that is very
class-conscious” and explained that the current alt-labor protests could
incite future organizing drives. Jowske also cited a
recent<http://inthesetimes.com/article/15826/fight_for_15_confidential/>
*In
These Times* piece to argue that worker centers can be portrayed as “union
front groups,” and warned that the alt-labor organizing model could have a
long-term impact. For instance, the organizing model appears to help unions
and community groups forge close ties that could be later used to deploy
activists for political campaigns, workplace NLRB elections and other
left-wing causes.

*Bryce Covert talks about
<http://www.thenation.com/blog/177361/why-women-workers-are-risk-averse-and-thats-okay>
how women’s eye for the long term makes them valuable workers.*



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Romy Ilano
romy at snowyla.com
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