Business Lobby: We Will Outgun Unions By 2010

[babylonsister]

http://undertheinfluence.nationaljournal.com/2009/02/business-lobby-sets-ambitious.php

Business Lobby: We Will Outgun Unions By 2010


Big Business will out-muscle organized labor in workplace political campaigning by 2010.

That's the ambitious claim being made by the Business Industry Political Action Committee, which is using the Web to help companies and associations get employees up to speed on industry issues. BIPAC President and CEO Greg Casey points to his committee's booming membership -- it has swelled from 50 companies and associations in 2000 to more than 3,700 last year -- and a recent report that shows workers trust their employers more than unions for political information as evidence that he can outgun Big Labor -- and at a bargain price.

"Washington loves to measure things on the amount of money we spend, but there are some things, like the credibility of the messenger, that you can't put a price on," he said.

Others are less sure. When reached for comment, representatives of several labor heavyweights had barely heard of BIPAC and expressed a mixture of shock and bemusement at Casey's prediction. Alison Omenf, a spokeswoman for the AFL-CIO, argued that tradition and strong relationships with union members would keep organized labor a step ahead of the game.

"The key here is the relationships that we have with workers," she said. "That doesn't change just because they're getting information from other source."

There's also a money gap. Unions dumped more than $100 million into ads and field organizing in support of President Obama and other Democrats last fall. BIPAC's primary means of reaching employees is through relatively simple informational Web sites (like this one for HSBC). Can they compete with armies of purple-clad SEIU organizers patrolling neighborhoods every fall?

"I like it when they knock on doors!" Casey said excitedly. "I like it when they walk around in neighborhoods where 50 percent of the people aren't home. The new precinct isn't built block-by-block, it's built cubicle-to-cubicle."

--David Herbert

[ThoughtCriminal]

1. BIPAC - I wouldn't bet

your Sweet Bippy on that.

[Thickasabrick]

2. Well....we just won't let them. They are as washed up as the GOP eom

[Gman]

3. Whatever....

fact is, the invention of the cubicle is one of the worst things that ever happened to organizing office work places. No one sees anyone else.