Dirt Diggers Digest No. 35
May 14, 2003
Editor: Philip Mattera
1. Paywatch website adds data on lush executive pension plans
2. Unionbuster filings now available on the web
3. ILO report examines union responses to globalization
4. Corporate snooping: a look at "competitive intelligence"
5. Public Citizen publishes documents on Enron lobbying
6. Corporate campaigners conference taking place next month
7. McCarthy secret hearing transcripts from 1950s now available online
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Paywatch website adds data on lush executive pension plans
The AFL's Executive Paywatch <http://www.aflcio.org/corporateamerica/paywatch/>
website, which since 1997 has tracked excesses in executive pay, recently added
a feature that documents the spread of lavish pension benefits granted to CEOs
and other top corporate officials. The site looks at the supplemental retirement
plans that have been put in place at about 15 companies (among them General
Electric, Halliburton and Verizon) at a time when many firms are looking for ways
to further shrink the retirement benefits offered to lower-level employees.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2. Unionbuster filings now available on the web
Rick Rehberg writes:
At long last, the Bush/Chao Labor Department has made "Labor Relations
Consultants" (aka unionbusters) financial reports available through the Web.
Union financial reports have been available electronically for some time.
On the web page http://www.dol.gov/esa/regs/compliance/olms/rrlo/lmrda.htm
you can access the following:
Form LM-10, Employer Reports -- Employers disclose who they hired, what
union they were busting, and how much they paid.
Form LM-20, Agreement and Activities Report -- Consultants disclose who
hired them and what services they provided.
Form LM-21, Receipts and Disbursements Report -- Annual report, Consultants
disclose amounts paid by each employer listed in the LM-20s.
According to the FAST Labor CD index of "Labor Relations Consultants" the
Department of Labor should have filings available on 543 unionbusters. So
far the DOL website lists only 61 unionbusters nationwide. But its a start.
[Editor's note: For information on the invaluable FAST CD, see
www.fastaflcio.org]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3. ILO report examines union responses to globalization
The International Labor Organization recently released a report called
Organized Labor in the 21st Century that surveys the state of collective
bargaining around the world, with special focus on ten countries: Japan,
Sweden, the United States, Chile, Israel, South Korea, Lithuania, Ghana,
India and Niger. The 419-page report, which can be downloaded in PDF at
http://www.ilo.org/public/english/bureau/inst/download/orglabour.pdf, is
especially concerned with the way in which unions have responded to
globalization.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4. Corporate snooping: a look at "competitive intelligence"
"Competitive intelligence" is the polite term for the widespread practice
of corporate espionage. The new issue of CSO Magazine, a publication
for corporate security executives, contains a fascinating article by Sarah
Scalet <http://www.idg.net/ic_1314055_9677_1-5046.html> on the techniques
of business spies. The piece shows how some of the most useful information
is gathered offline rather than by computer.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5. Public Citizen publishes documents on Enron lobbying
Public Citizen recently posted on its website scores of documents relating
to the the federal lobbying efforts of Enron in the years preceding the
explosive revelations about corruption within the energy trading company.
The documents focus on lobbying at the Treasury Department, which
released the papers in heavily redacted form. To see the documents, go to
http://www.citizen.org/cmep/energy_enviro_nuclear/electricity/Enron/foia/.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
6. Corporate campaigners conference taking place next month
The third annual Empowering Democracy conference for corporate campaigners
will take place June 5-8 in Fayetteville, Arkansas. The event will include plenary
presentations on topics such as the post-Enron environment and corporate
personhood as well as numerous workshops teaching skills such as shareholder
activism, power analysis and corporate research. The registration deadline is
May 22. For more information, see http://www.empoweringdemocracy.org/.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
7. McCarthy secret hearing transcripts from 1950s now available online
The Government Printing Office has put online the complete text of the five volumes
of McCarthy era hearing transcripts recently published by the Senate Committee
on Government Affairs. The volumes, which total more than 3,000 pages, can be
accessed at http://www.gpo.gov/congress/senate/senate12cp107.html. The
closed-door hearings, which took place in 1953 and 1954, covered topics such as
supposed subversion and espionage in the defense industry.
-------------------------------
Philip Mattera, Editor
pmattera@goodjobsfirst.org