Documenting the work of Anti-Union Persuaders with Dave Jamieson

Labor Reporter for the HuffPost, Dave Jamieson, joined the America’s Work Force Union Podcast to discuss his recent five-part series on the actions of union persuasion firms called “The Persuaders.” Jamieson discussed one occurrence from his series about a persuader in Missouri and shared reactions to the series so far.

Little is known about the companies operating as union persuasion firms, or “The Persuaders.” Jamieson constantly ran into persuaders during coverage of various organizing campaigns and felt the need to cover their operations in this series. In his research and investigations, Jamieson found that many of these persuaders come from organized labor and are usually former organizers and union officials. He found that because of their backgrounds, these union busters knew exactly who and what to target for the best results.

One example Jamieson discussed involved a man who went by the cover of Jack Black. His real name is Jim Teague, and as it turned out, he had a history of organizing with the Steelworkers. Teague was given a contract to work against a union campaign in Missouri, and Jamieson shared the unique approach Teague took for the job. As Jamieson found out after his story, the company responsible for the union-busting activities paid $60,000, which turned out to be more than the pay raises would have been for the union members.

After releasing the last installment of the series, Jamieson talked about the outpouring of support he received. Many union members reached out to discuss their run-ins with these type of anti-union agents. Even one of the persuaders featured in the story agreed with much of what Jamieson had to share. However, he did mention that Jamieson’s work tended to focus on the more “unsavory” aspects of the work. 

To read the entire five-part series, please visit HuffPost.com