Death by a Thousand Cuts

The Devil at Our Doorstep contains the following excerpt from Lowell Ponte’s 2004 article, How Socialist Unions Rule the Democratic Party, which succinctly summarizes “Corporate Campaigns” utilized by Big Labor to pound unsuspecting employees and employers into submission in its desperate attempt to force unionize employees through Card Check.

“SEIU and its political, media, and leftwing activist allies conspire to  attack a company directly with what they call “Corporate Campaign” or the “death of a thousand cuts.” Like the Furies of Greek mythology, this cabal of attackers harasses and disrupts company activities, sends vicious emails and letters to stockholders, intimidates customers, stalks and frightens employees, files baseless lawsuits, plants false stories with media allies to smear the company’s reputation, and uses hundreds of other tactics to injure the targeted company in every way they can imagine. . . The aim of this concerted swarming attack is to bully and pressure a targeted company into signing an agreement making SEIU the representative of its employees.”

Unable to stem its continuing  decline in membership through traditional elections,  mainly because it has nothing to attract prospective members, Big Labor has resorted to Corporate Campaigns tactics of intimidation, misinformation, defamation, propaganda, political pressure, disingenuous rhetoric, character attacks,  and empty promises coinciding with attacks on the targets’ customers, advertisers and financial supporters to defund the opponent, exert extreme pressure, and, ultimately, to force unionize its employees. This is all done as a “necessary” step to stave off extinction.  These tactics, which are designed to overwhelm and defeat the target, are explicitly detailed in the SEIU Training Curriculum  and  Contract Campaign Manual. Big Labor realizes this playbook, combined with empathy from the mainstream media, will result in a win over 95% of the time because most employers and employees will bow to the pressure!

Following the publication of The Devil at My Doorstep, employees and employers from around the country submitted their own personal real-life “horror” stories based of union “campaign” tactics. These stories are relayed in The Devil at Our Doorstep. From California to Massachusetts, Michigan to Missouri, Texas to Florida, and back home again to Indiana its pages explode with the bullying tactics, political cronyism and misuse of members’ dues used by Big Labor to achieve its goals. Stories like the one shared below continue to flow in as the silent majority share their experiences of intimidation and pressure at the hands of Big Labor!

“I thought I would send you a quick update on the “happenings” of the SEIU at our once sleepy little college Dining Services. You might remember that the SEIU won the vote last December by promising the employees the “world” and it was a very close vote. Well as of today they have still not voted on a contract but I hear they are having a meeting on May 22nd (rumor has it that is the contract vote day). I guess it would be too much to ask for them to be up front and actually post that information for all to see! There is still much separation amongst the employees and, when they do have the SEIU representative there, she still huddles “her” people into secret little talks. About four employees who were strong union supporters have either been fired for attendance or have found other jobs leaving us with a big SEIU mess! That would almost close the gap on the vote last December. I can’t believe it has been almost two years since the first SEIU recruiter started lurking in the shadows around my place of work. I don’t understand how they can operate without getting a penny in dues for two years? Wanna hear something funny? She is blaming the fact that there is so much “dissention” in the ranks for not getting all she promised in the contract! I still can’t believe this has happened and I am still just as disillusioned about voting in November.”

“I’m not sure. After 2 settlements and attorneys fees my employer has $200,000 in completely bogus claims. Now we are just in the stage where the union idiot can come in every Wednesday and Friday and hang stuff on our walls. I finally figured out we can sign a petition against union representment so I printed one off of the internet and I have 10 signatures out of 11 employees. Now I don’t know what to do with it. My boss is terrified of more lawsuits. If it’s like everything else they will file lawsuits saying everyone was coerced into signing it. The NLRB isn’t interested in the truth about anything only pushing the union agenda.”

Union tactics of “death by a thousand cuts,” is not limited to the private sector. Big Labor’s use of the strategy can be seen in the despicable and unprofessional attacks by public unions on Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, in labor’s domination of bankrupt California’s politics, against Indiana Republicans during the Right to Work debate, and in their corrupt influence on the Department of Labor and National Labor Relations Board through the current administration/Democratic Party. Perhaps more concerning, however, is how President Obama, trained by the SEIU (see Obama and the SEIU Sittin in a Tree), is utilizing these same tactics against Mitt Romney, who appears to be following the same failed campaign strategy of appeasement utilized by John McCain.

The Obama campaign already is employing the death by a thousand cuts strategy as discussed in Vetting Obama’s Political Tactics. The President is showing his knowledge of the playbook in blasting Romney’s supposed “bullying” of a gay high school classmate, exposing Romney’s supposed business ineptness due to his involvement in closing down steel mills while at Bain Capital, intimidating top Romney donors to suppress donations, and promoting class warfare by exposing Romney’s Swiss and Cayman bank accounts. This week, the Obama campaign is scheduled to release a video denigrating Romney’s business tactics and acumen (see Marion featured in Obama campaign video about Romney’s Bain Capital ). This, from a hypocritical President that would have trouble running a lemonade stand! Nevertheless, these tactics are designed to isolate the target and destroy it, just like Big Labor’s Corporate Campaigns.

Unfortunately, the Romney campaign has yet to understand you cannot stand by passively and allow attacks to continue without redress. As detailed in The Devil at Our Doorstep the SEIU was defeated professionally and truthfully by EMS exposing the SEIU’s tactics as untrue and exposing the SEIU’s true character to employees and customers.  Romney’s campaign must not be afraid to link Obama with persons of questionable character like Andy Stern or Jeremiah Wright, and expose the lack of both experience and accomplishment the President brings to the table. The Romney campaign must remind the American public to judge a person not by what he or she says, but by what they do and with whom they associate. After all, actions speak louder than words!

It is imperative the Romney campaign begin now to employ professional and factual tactics to educate the American Public and expose the Obama Administration’s lack of character if Romney is to counteract the “death by a thousand cuts” and become the 45th President of the United States of America!