Meet the Corporate Shill Spending Millions to Keep Workers from Getting the Pay They Deserve

[xchrom]

http://www.alternet.org/corporate-accountability-and-workplace/meet-corporate-shill-spending-millions-prevent-necessary

***SNIP

But wait -- "many" in the group are radical? How many? The ads only list eight and offer only innuendo as "proof" of their radicalism.

So, to make its weak case, the institute has cited several "academic" reports that assail the wage increase on multiple fronts. But, the man behind the curtain refuses to disclose the names of the corporate giants funding him, and he also never mentions that more than half of the economists whose papers he cites are paid by him. One, Joseph Sabia, has been given a quarter-million dollars in eight grants from the wizard's institute. In addition, an independent analysis of one of Sabia's reports found that the data was skewed to make it seem that a New York wage hike would have a negative impact on employment, which simply was not true.

Who is the wizard behind the curtain of the Employment Policy Institute? Richard Berman. Go to 1090 Vermont Ave. in Washington, the address of this "institute," and you won't find any economists or any other employees, for the institute has none. But you will find the old wizard sitting there -- manipulating statistics, twisting logic and spewing out economic nonsense. A 71-year-old PR and advertising hatchet man named, he's paid by various corporations to set up official-sounding front groups that advance their political agenda. The Employment Policy Institute (which is headed by Berman according to tax filings and has no employees, according to the New York Times) is a phony Astroturf front for the big restaurant chains. They want to keep profiting by paying poverty wages to their workers, so they've hired Berman to trash any and all who support raising America's wage floor.

The "institute" provides a varnish of academic legitimacy for unvarnished corporate greed. As the watchdog group PRWatch says of Berman's flimflam, "They are little more than phony experts on retainer."

[Scuba]

1. Boy, just wait 'til the liberal media hears about this!

[Snarkoleptic]

2. Chris Hayes confronted an EPI shill in this piece...

[starroute]

3. Rich Berman has been an evil little worm since forever

Here are a couple of items from a few years back when he was particularly prominent.

http://www.citizensforethics.org/blog/entry/an-innocent-looking-tv-ad-with-a-hidden-agenda

February 11, 2010

It’s hard to be surprised about anything that is done by Richard Berman, the over-the-top P.R. maven who has attacked the minimum wage, Mothers Against Drunk Driving, and various consumer health campaigns. But Americans who care about transparency and economic fairness should be concerned about the innocent-looking, national advertising blitz that one of Berman’s industry-funded front groups is carrying out.

It's unknown how much money is behind the "Defeat the Debt" ad campaign by Berman's Employment Policies Institute (EPI). But the campaign must have very deep pockets because it recently bought a premium-priced, 30-second TV slot during the Super Bowl. The Saints won that game, but there is nothing saintly about Berman's agenda. In fact, CBS's "60 Minutes" reported that Berman takes pride in being nicknamed "Dr. Evil."


http://harpers.org/blog/2009/05/corporate-front-man-richard-berman-manages-the-news-on-key-labor-backed-bill/

May 15, 2009

Richard Berman, a prominent lobbyist for the food and restaurant industry, is one of the leading opponents of the hotly-debated Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), which would make it easier to organize labor unions. Berman is the sole owner and executive director of Berman and Company, a for-profit management firm that runs fifteen corporate-funded groups. He holds at least sixteen positions within these interlocking organizations.

Two of Berman’s groups are fighting EFCA: the non-profit Employee Freedom Action Committee and the Center for Union Facts, a grassroots lobbying firm that gathers “information about the size, scope, political activities, and criminal activity of the labor movement.” The two groups share office space and staff.

Berman is not required to publicly disclose financial information about his company. Federal tax returns for his non-profit, the Center for Union Facts, however, show that it took in $2.5 million in 2007, almost entirely from unnamed donors, including one individual who put up $1.2 million. About half of the group’s money was spent on an anti-union print and online ad campaign, and $840,000 went to Berman and Company for “management” services. The Center rails against highly-paid union officials, listing on its website the annual salaries of top officials at the AFL-CIO. The federation’s three highest-paid employees — president John Sweeney, vice-president Linda Chavez-Thompson, and secretary-treasurer Richard Trumka – make about $680,000 combined, well less than what Berman’s company took in to manage only the Center for Union Facts.


http://www.humanesociety.org/assets/pdfs/farm/richard_berman_ccf.pdf

This is where white-knuckle lobbying and media buys merge with a handful of public charities Berman has created to spin and cajole public perception on a variety of issues. But for the most part, he attacks and intimidates those with contrary views, and under the banner of the public good serves the agendas of corporate America.

His targets are mostly activist charities that criticize or have conflicting views with big business. Organizations like The Humane Society of the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Mothers Against Drunk Driving, the Center for Science in the Public Interest. He also takes direct aim against labor unions and any politician who lines up on their side. His strategy: Shoot the messenger.

When it comes to debate over such issues as animal welfare, blood-alcohol levels, minimum wage, union organizing, trans fats, sugar or mercury in fish, Berman is on the attack. And his advocacy is always in step with his client list.