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:: Wednesday, December 17, 2003 ::

Advice to Improve Union Publications By Harry Kelber
LaborTalk for December 17, 2003

It's inevitable that, like politicians, bankers and corporation executives, some labor leaders will become involved in criminal activities. When a union leader's wrongdoing was very serious and widely publicized, I felt I had to report it, while giving him an opportunity to defend himself in our newspapers. It was important to maintain our credibility with readers.

I applied that principle when then District Attorney Thomas Dewey, later to oppose Harry Truman for president of the United States, prosecuted officers of Hotel and Restaurant Employees Local 302 for shaking down restaurant owners by guaranteeing them 'labor peace.'

I believe that nearly all of today's labor publications made a costly blunder by not reporting the insider stock-trading scandal at the Union Labor Life Insurance Company for an entire year after Business Week and The Wall Street Journal made it public.

The labor scandal was the worst in decades, involving 27 current and retired national labor leaders, in a scheme they all endorsed, that allowed many of them to gain huge profits in buying and selling ULLICO stock at very favorable prices. By covering up the scandal, the labor press lost a lot of credibility with many readers.

posted 7:06 AM :: reference link :: 0 comments ::

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