Business Takes Aim at Nonprofit Labor-Advocacy Groups

Business organizations are mounting an aggressive campaign to curb “worker centers,” saying the nonprofit groups that press companies on issues such as wages and working conditions should be regulated as labor unions, The New York Times writes.

Trade groups such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Restaurant Association say the centers are effectively fronts for organized labor, targeting particular employers and organizing protests, and, like unions, should be required to disclose financial details and abstain from certain types of picketing.

Such centers have mushroomed in recent years, and corporate concern has grown since AFL-CIO President Richard L. Trumka said in March that his union would cooperate closely with the groups. The Chamber of Commerce issued a report in November criticizing philanthropic groups that have donated millions of dollars to worker centers, including the Ford and Marguerite Casey foundations.