Letter to the editor: Health care union busting has long history nationally, in Portland
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Modern labor struggles frequently witness use of legal consultants hired to ensure a “union-free environment.” By 1979 such legal consultants had become a major industry in the nation, with annual sales of well over a half-billion dollars.
Labor union records of the period indicated that out of 6,000 organizing campaigns, two-thirds of them witnessed some form of outside anti-union experts. A dramatic glimpse of such wholesale legal activity to weaken unions was reflected in the fact that the firm Modern Management Methods, Inc. provided anti-union legal consultants in 500 organizing drives by labor in 1978-1979. Some estimates indicate that more than 100 firms and 1,500 individuals were engaged on a full-time or part-time basis in union-busting activity.