Look Who the Folks Who Took Down ACORN Are Targeting Now

[xchrom]

http://www.thenation.com/article/179616/look-who-folks-who-took-down-acorn-are-targeting-now


Arise Chicago, a faith-based nonprofit, founded a worker center in 2002 that has helped win safety agreements for hotel workers. (Shelly Ruzicka, Arise Chicago)

In a presentation at the Drake Hotel in Chicago last October, Joseph Kefauver addressed a conference of executives from companies like Nike, Macy’s and Crate & Barrel, among other leading brands. Kefauver, a key player in the rising cottage industry of lobbyists and consultants hired by the retail sector, warned his audience that a new movement was taking hold, one that could leverage the “exponential growth of grassroots networks” to force change at corporations beyond the reach of traditional labor unions. These activists, Kefauver explained in his PowerPoint presentation, could create pressure in the media, throughout a supply chain, and even in the policy and political arena, making them a threat to business’s bottom line unlike any other. In addition, he noted ominously, these new groups are spreading beyond the big cities and blue states and have established a “left-of-center beachhead in traditionally conservative areas.”

The conference attendees were then asked to consider the pushback. “How aggressive can we be?” one slide read. “How do we challenge the social justice narrative?” queried another.

Kefauver is a former executive for public affairs at Walmart and a former political action committee staffer for Darden Restaurants, the parent company of chain eateries like Olive Garden and Red Lobster. As a full-time consultant at firms that serve the restaurant and retail industry, he is part of a phalanx of lobbyists and political operatives with a small but focused goal: to destroy what has become known as the “worker center” movement.

Kefauver’s alarm at the rise of worker centers, which he has repeated in talks with the US Chamber of Commerce and other business trade groups, isn’t simply bluster. Just as conservatives aimed their fire—to devastating effect—at organized labor and low-wage advocacy groups like ACORN in the past decade, right-wing lobbyists and the businesses that pay them are going after worker centers today because they recognize their potency. With unions in decline—a fact celebrated in one recent ad targeting worker centers—the “alt-labor” movement has helped jump-start a nationwide effort to reshape working conditions for millions of Americans in low-wage jobs. The question is: Can worker centers escape the fate of other, similarly situated groups targeted by corporate smear campaigns?


***Progressives should have serious Pay Back in their hearts for what happened to ACORN.

[ck4829]

1. "How aggressive can we be? How do we challenge the social justice narrative?"

Here's an idea, Kefauver and friends, you stop acting like some Saturday morning cartoon villains, and you compete with each other over who can make the best environment for employees and consumers instead of just trying to make it so that workers fight for your 'glorious' scraps. It will be better for everyone... even you.

[Scuba]

3. +1

[AleksS]

9. Yup. It's like they don't hear the words that come

It's like they don't hear the words that come out of their mouths.

Do they know who "challenges" social justice? Evil people.

Note to the wise: when you find yourself in the position of saying evil things, it may be time to seriously consider your position--it may be evil.

Or, as Jeff Foxworthy might say if he wasn't a rightwing tool:

Iiiiiiif you find yourself asking how aggressive you can be challenging social justice....you just might be evil. 😀

[maindawg]

21. Without the hate industry Mr Keyfauver would not have a job

So, these corporations do not need him. They should consider the cost of doing business by co operating with these new forms of representation vrs the war on their employees that corps like Wall Mart engages is.

[Victor_c3]

31. Thanks to the market's fixation on quarterly and annual returns, companies are focused only on short

term gains. If it's a strategy that might in the very short term cause their stock price to slip the slightest before it raises in the longer term, it's too risky for a big business to engage in.

I believe that if Walmart raised the wages of their workers then started running advertisements on TV stating "we pay and treat our workers better than other big retailers" that they'd gain a lot of business and almost instantly clean up their reputation - not to mention I bet the productivity of their workers would increase as well.

[On the Road]

2. Seems Like There Might be an Opportunity

to either attract supporters or at least split the opposition by framing the struggle as corporations versus faith-based organizations. A lot of conservative working poor will support higher wages as long as the effort gives them something to identify with.

[socialist_n_TN]

4. From Worker's Power-US publshed last August.......

http://www.workerspower.net/alternative-labor-organizations-on-the-rise-the-complications-and-the-promise

Looks like we were ahead of the opposition on this one. Long piece, but good. Written by myself and another comrade with collective editing.

[xchrom]

5. +1

[socialist_n_TN]

17. Thanks for the OP xchrom!.....

DEFINITELY something we need to know about. Kind of like ALL of your posts.

[tomg]

7. Thanks. Just read the article

At workers power you co-wrote. Spot on. Gave me much to think about.

[socialist_n_TN]

15. Thanks for the props. I also thought this was one of our best efforts.......

AND it was a subject that hasn't been covered or analyzed much by the far left. So hopefully, it made a contribution to the dialog.

There's another long piece we did on immigration last year (or was it the year before? that was pretty high level analysis too. Glad you enjoyed the read! Message me if you want to get on the email newsletter list.

[De Leonist]

11. Incredible, well-written comrade

As a Syndicalist I can only say thank you for this. If there is one thing that I think History has proven it's that workers can only really count on themselves to better their lot. The best way for that being organized labor perhaps as that article shows not in a traditional sense but still worker's organization. Bravo!

[socialist_n_TN]

16. Thanks comrade, I'm glad you enjoyed it.......

The long analysis we did on immigration was pretty good too, IMO.

And you're right, the working class can ONLY rely on ourselves. Anything we're given from outside of the class can be taken away whenever the winds of reaction decide to do so. Like now.

As an aside and in spite of the bad blood from Kronstadt, I've always felt that we Trotskyists are closer to the syndicalist ideal than any other left groups. Certainly closer than Stalinists or Maoists. Not that there aren't significant differences of course, but we both believe in "bottom up" worker organization controlling the economy, politics and society.

Message me with your email addy if you want to get on our monthly email newsletter. And thanks again!

[JDPriestly]

6. The biggest "threat to business’s bottom line unlike any other" is the growing number of

people in low-wage jobs who cannot afford to buy the products that workers with similar jobs could afford to buy 30 years ago.

My husband and I are retired. We do not got out to eat. Never, ever. Too expensive.

American working, retired and unemployed do not have the money to spend on the products that American businesses produce (often overseas using close-to-slave labor).

Why any American businessman would think that low wages for increasing numbers of Americans could be good for business is beyond me.

[mountain grammy]

12. Here's why: they are greedy and believe they, and only they, should be allowed to

redistribute as much or as little wealth as they see fit. It's working so well for the 1%, they don't see the downside, or worse, don't care. They're rich enough to convince half of the poor population to turn against the other half, a dream come true for robber baron Jay Gould. If only he had talk radio and fox news they could have finished us off long ago.

[albino65]

8. Sounds to me like a blueprint. n/t

[certainot]

10. remember rw radio is their most important and FREE tool for swiftboating and was the

most important tool going after ACORN.

ACORN was a regular rw radio target for a decade before the video setup. like immigration it was an easy target to use for passing ALEC voter suppression, etc.

shits like kefauver can't do much without rw radio, fed and coordinated through the stink tanks and maybe ending up on fox later after radio's done the free groundwork.

the left could end a lot of this shit by not ignoring the radio problem

[BlancheSplanchnik]

13. absolutely.

Why don't we have strategy organizations devoted to dismantling the puke propaganda?

Oh right, cuz we're not overpaid CEO 's hiring scabby corporate Ministers of Propaganda to plan long-range destruction missions against people who have the nerve to want fair pay.

[lunasun]

14. “exponential growth of grassroots networks” to force change" Thougt that was the fake mantra

for their tea party movement= heavily financed and contrived I know but now that a real group is a trying to force change they are to be squashed????

[jtuck004]

20. Nothing fake about the hundreds of meetings they tried to hold across the country, many

of them successful, to build groups and find candidates. And many of those people sit in those elected seats today.

A lot is made about the money, but that's mostly just airtime. The real growth of the Tea Party, and not very expensive, was the their Saul Alinsky approach to organizing, sending around organizing DVDs and having coffee/cookie meetings to gain support. They got tens of thousands of disaffected people to join that way, all while the Democrats and Republicans were courting the big banks and deep pockets who are putting more people into servitude as we speak.

[blm]

22. Baloney - Kochs paid for the busses and rallies to portray a REAL movement even before the meetings

took hold, and they did it state by state, town by town, and even paid people to ride around from rally to rally.

Pretty benign view you are taking of the formation of the TeaParty.

[jtuck004]

23. You sound seriously misinformed and not worth my time. I went to one of the meetings here, saw

organizing materials and talked with other DUers about it. It was quite effective, and beat the pants off the losers who would rather make excuses than do the work. But there are whole political parties devoted to avoiding reality, so it doesn't surprise me to see that such folks are everywhere, 600 year old earth and all.

But like I said, enjoy the echo. I won't be able to read anything else you post.

[stonecutter357]

32. totally fake.

[jtuck004]

34. Thank you. Made my limit. n/t

[stonecutter357]

35. limit of what?

[blm]

36. LOL - Pretty transparent efforts. No Kochs, no Dick Armey in YOUR world, eh?

.

[certainot]

25. BS- what was totally fake was the alternate talk radio dittohead reality they were operating from

that's all it was, a bunch of talk radio republicans and a few idiots who thought their idiocy had merit.

dick armey working for the kochs did a little organizing and passing out bus tickets and all 450 limbaugh wannabes in the country told them where to go and when to be there.

little the teabaggers ever said had not already been repeated millions of times by some of the most ignorant carnival barkers on the planet.

[jtuck004]

28. Facts just escape some people. Maybe the facts are too fast.

The content of what they said aside, they did nothing that thousands of dis-organizers had done before them, and a hell of a lot more than their opponents. Ignorant people can make all the excuses they want, but those people sitting in those elected chairs didn't get there because of radio broadcasts. They are there because they ran - and because their lazy-ass, do-nothing opponents didn't. Some of the seats they got running UNOPPOSED.

One can think what they want, but there are more than a few DUers on here who, wanting to know what was in their opponents mind, went. I was one of them. I remember thinking that these people will have some success, and they did. They were doing EXACTLY the same things we did in the 60s, and it worked then too. It was only when they got in that a bunch of people realized they had just been taken with their own rules and game, and the loser's excuse factory went into high gear.

Oddly enough, excuses never won an election, and you can see the results. One can say all they want, but when the elections come, all the nonsensical, worthless excuses will still mean what they did before - nothing - and what will count is at the ballot box. And people will get exactly what they deserve.

Oh, and btw, I am really not interested in what people privy to such a low volume of information, so I won't be able to read any of your future replies. If all you have is represented by the above, you might as well hang on to it anyway. Let's see if you can.

[certainot]

29. okeedokie

[certainot]

30. well, in case others may read this... yes, most of those teabggers that won any election got there

because the common talking points had been pounded into their heads so well with the 1% psyops known as rw radio are all very well established nationwide by 1200 coordinated radio stations reaching 50 mil a week

almost any of the teabagger bullshit can be traced to talk radio repetition by the biggest ignorant liars on the planet. maybe there are some well meaning americans in the lot but mostly they are authoritarians who will follow anyone who sounds certain when they lie, and they prefer certainty to truth because certainty eases their aversion to uncertainty.

the mistake the left makes and why the teabaggers have been so successful, is the left has been giving the talk radio monopoly a free speech free ride.

[rhett o rick]

18. We need to fight this corporate conspiracy "to destroy what has become known as the “worker center"

movement. "

[jtuck004]

19. In 1912 a member of the "Commission on Industrial Relations", or Walsh Commission, formed

to look at work conditions of the era, did a "back of the envelope" calculation of the money spent on traitors, goons, spies, murderers, thugs, politicians and spies from rival unions based on the testimony being given.

He came up with around $80 million dollars. In 1912. (Inflation calculator says that is about $1.9 billion today).

Some things never change, but the response to them varies in efficiency and effort, especially after the Progressive Era ended.

[stonecutter357]

33. You sound concernd .

[Sarah Ibarruri]

24. This Joseph Kefauer a-h graduated from Catholic Univ. He must HATE the new pope with a passion!!!

Everything Kefauer stands for is an abomination to the Pope. I'd love to ask this freak what he thinks.

[elzenmahn]

26. LOL..."a-h"

Go ahead and say it, because Kefauver and his pals all deserve it...

They're AssHoles!!!!!!!!

[Sarah Ibarruri]

37. ASSHOLES! There. I feel much better. :) nt

[elzenmahn]

38. Ahhhhh...see how therapeutic that can be??? : )

[Sarah Ibarruri]

39. Why, yes! It's a healing potion of sorts! :) nt

[elzenmahn]

27. So now that this turd has identified himself...

...let's see how long before (if they haven't already) the Keefey O'Freak and his devotees try to infiltrate these groups and try to "ACORN" them out of existence.

Be wary and be alert.