Socialist Action /March 2000
Ray Rogers Corporate Campaign: Friend or Foe?
Before the transit contract talks began, a union-consulting firm headed
by Ray Rogers of the Corporate Campaign Inc. (CCI) approached TWU Local
100. Rogers has a reputation for being a "progressive," but apparently
believes that strikes are "out of date."
The CCI conducts public relations campaigns against corporate abuses,
with a special focus on the media. CCI's thrust is moralistic appeals for
companies to "do the right thing."
Rogers approached TWU President Willie James, who actually promoted union-busting
workfare in the last contract, and was badly in need of an activist cover
for his company unionism. Rogers then contacted New Directions, promising
that he would not take the job unless ND was on board.
President James got only tentative approval to hire the CCI from the
union's Executive Board, of which nearly half are New Directions members,
pending a final vote and discussion. That meeting and that vote never happened,
but CCI was hired. New Directions was outraged.
Rogers' first gained attention during a union recognition battle at the
giant J.P. Stevens textile company in the late 1970s. Rogers' publicity
campaign attacked the company's image and called for a consumer boycott.
Union organizing and the boycott persuaded the company to sign several contracts.
In 1985, Rogers was involved in the pivotal Local P-9 strike at a Hormel
meatpacking plant in Minnesota. The strike lost.
Although the union's international was mainly to blame, Rogers was criticized.
For example, Rogers advised strikers to be passively arrested in "civil
rights" style protests, instead of stopping scabs that were walking
unimpeded through the company's gate.
According to a 1990 study published by Cornell University, out of 28
contract campaigns, 12 by the CCI and 16 by similar organizations, these
campaigns produced "tangible success" in only eight union contracts!
The CCI exploits workers' fears that they're outgunned by management.
Union defeats have contributed to this pessimistic view. But ND attracted
much media attention without the CCI's help, by engaging in real fightback
activities.
However, the biggest lesson to be learned is that the CCI's media-oriented
campaigns distract workers from organizing where the greatest power of workers
lies-on the job!
Socialist Action /March 2000 |