The American Consulting Group (ACG) is listed as number 31 on the AFL-CIO list of worst union-busters in the nation, according to a recent article in Covert Action Quarterly. ACG was hired by the Pat Scott regime at Pacifica and was involved in drafting and negotiating a retrogressive contract, as well as defending the actions of the Scott regime at the National Labor Relations Board. In a variety of public statements, Scott and other regime spokespersons have denied knowledge of ACG's nature, though as you will see, ACG proudly advertises their anti-union services.

Subsequent revelations and public outcry, in the summer of 1996, regarding Pacifica's hiring of union-busters, the contract with ACG was not renewed by Scott. However, ACG had already been employed for a year, and one might ask whether they would still be on the Pacifica payroll if the facts had not come out publicly.

As of this writing, in April 1997, the Scott regime is still in power-- and still lying about the nature of the work ACG did, claiming they were hired to "advise on the latest developments in labor law." ---Lyn Gerry
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The video opens with actors playing four company managers sitting in a conference room. These actors, and others portraying workers and ACG consultants are seen throughout the video, sometimes delivering dialogue, at other times beneath the narrator's voice over. Also used are documentary news footage of a "Jobs with Justice" march and Jesse Jackson speaking at a pro-union rally, a "Rainbow Coalition" banner featured center screen. (This is ironic as Jack O'Dell, a key player in the Rainbow Coalition, is the Chair of the Pacifica National Board of Directors who have been actively attempting to bust the unions and corporatize Pacifica.)

(Over a creepy synthesizer-generated music bed, company managers sit at a conference table)

BOSS: (middle-aged white guy with gray hair) Good morning, everyone. I've called this meeting because I want to get your input on the union organizing effort. I want your thoughts on why we've got this problem, and what you think we might be able to do to solve it. Colleen...you're our human resource director...why don't we start with you.

COLLEEN: ( a thirty-something white woman who looks like she probably was once Miss Texas ) Well, I think there are three reasons we're being organized. There are probably more, but these three seem to be the most often mentioned by employees.

First, the adjustments we made to our hospitalization and insurance plan are *perceived* by employees as reductions. Requiring some co-payment by employees for the first time has not gone over very well. Employees just haven't bought the fact that skyrocketing health care costs means we have no choice but to share.

Second, employees are not at all happy with the new wage incentive plan. They think they're working a lot harder for a lot less. They don't understand, or maybe don't *want* to understand how it works.

Last, employees believe we're not listening to them. I can't tell you how many times I've heard employees say, "If they only listened to us.".....What is your perspective, Keith?...

KEITH: (an up-and-coming MBA Yuppie with wire-frame glasses who probably works out in a gym and thinks he's a real macho guy) I'll tell you what I'm seeing..."Go Union" graffiti in the locker room....authorization cards all over the place..."Power with the Union" buttons being worn by almost half the work force..

We've got a serious problem here..its been going on for weeks now and we haven't done anything to stop it...What I want to know is ..WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO ABOUT IT..AND WHEN ARE WE GOING TO DO IT?

BOSS: What do you think, Mike?

MIKE: (a grandfatherly- looking balding white guy who likes to go fishing and worked his way up from the shop floor by being a good company man) We had a union where I worked before I came here. Our supervisors spent over a quarter of their time on grievances. (exasperated) Promotions, job assignments didn't go to the best workers...went to the workers with most seniority..forget flexibility. The union contract dictates everything.

We put a pencil to it and determined that our operating costs went up 35% when the union came in. You ask me what I think?..I think we need to get our act together and come up with a plan to keep this from happening *here*....To be honest, I don't think we have the time, or the expertise to do this ourselves..and do it right. We need help...lots of help....

NARRATOR: More and more today, businesses large and small in all industries, in every part of the country, are facing renewed efforts by organized labor to sign up new members. And, more and more today, companies confronted by union organizational efforts are turning to the American Consulting Group for help.

Formed in 1973, the American Consulting Group has served over 2200 hundred clients from coast-to-coast in myriad industries. Many of our clients are household names, and the work we've done for them has been well-publicized.

But, many more of our clients are smaller businesses with equally important problems to solve...and not enough in-house resources to solve them. Whatever the size, whatever the industry, if the problem is maintaining your union-free status, the solution can be found in here.. (Boss opens manual entitled "Maintaining Your Union -Free Status")

Unions are becoming more sophisticated in their organizing tactics; and employers must do the same. Through over 800 campaigns, American Consulting has created an enormous database of information on union activity, on specific unions, and even specific locals. We *know* what the union will do. We know when they'll do it....and we know how to counter the union strategy.

It's that knowledge, experience and commitment to our clients success that has enabled us to win 92% of the union elections we've been involved in. 92%....

At american Consulting, we feel the most important factor in winning a union election is communication. The facts are on our side..and carrying those facts to the employees is *essential* in winning a union campaign. That's why we become a part of your team.

We're on-site 24 hours a day, if necessary, making sure your employees understand that the unions promises are empty promises..in small group meetings or one-on-one, *we* become their source of information. *We're* the ones they turn to for answers....

(two corporate-attired white guys, ACG operatives, address a room of seated multi-ethnic workers)

WORKER: (a middle-aged black guy looking respectful) You mean to tell me, if the union gets in we may lose some things we already have?

UNION-BUSTER: Absolutely! If the union wins the election, all it wins is the right to sit down at the bargaining table.....

NARRATOR: We don't win campaigns by sitting behind the desk and dictating strategy...We talk to the employees..we listen to them...and we convince them that they're better off without the union.

The battle to remain union-free is fought on several fronts..and one of the important soldiers in the conflict is the first-line supervisor. For that reason, one of the first things we do is turn your supervisors into labor relations experts as soon as possible. Supervisors can win and lose elections in the trenches. They must be credible, they must be aggressive and they must be legal.

A time-proven supervisory training blitzkrieg developed by the American Consulting Group has turned many a union campaign around.

UNION-BUSTER: (conducting a "supervisory training blitzkrieg") Don't for a minute think you should let up on disciplining your employees during the campaign..that's what the union wants.

SUPERVISOR: (youngish white guy gazing obediently at the Union-Buster) But if I *do* discipline a union supporter, won't I get in trouble?

UNION-BUSTER: Not if you do it right..Now listen let's say one of your employees....

NARRATOR: Most supervisors were good employees who were given their new title and expected to work miracles. They need help in a union campaign..and the ACG consultants give it to them...

As traditional forms of organizing become less effective, unions are turning to more indirect tactics like corporate campaigns to gain publicity...

(a series of news clips under this narration of a "Jobs with Justice" march, angry workers yelling at a rally, Jesse Jackson speaking from a podium hung with a Rainbow Coalition banner)

..and new members. Very often, unions will use this weapon in lieu of a strike. A co-ordinated corporate campaign applies pressure to a company from different angles, often forcing a company to give in to the union's demands or to recognize then without an NLRB election. Consumer boycotts, informational picketing at customer locations. pressure on the Board of Directors, high visibility stories about alleged safety, environmental of labor law violations instigated by unions are examples of corporate campaign activities.

These and other types of strategies need equally creative rebuttals...and once again, American Consulting's record in neutralizing this tactic of organized labor is unequaled in the United States.

More often today, companies are not waiting for unions to call before they develop and implement an aggressive union-prevention program. Positive employee practices, supervisory training, and more and better employee communications can all contribute to a workplace where employees feel they don't need and outside third party...a union.

ACG clients are at the forefront of companies taking a pro-active stance on unions. We've helped thousands of companies develop strategies to keep unions out by putting in place programs and policies that discourage the need for unions by identifying and eliminating, or changing those problem areas that cause union sentiment to fester.

We've developed customized programs that teach employees to meet the challenges of the modern day work environment, including team-building programs, communications programs, compensation and benefit programs...basing these programs on the basis of customized attitude surveys and tailor-made questionnaires. Positive human resources procedures and policies are the first step towards remaining union-free.

The cost of keeping a union out is significantly less the earlier you start. Here's the bottom line: keeping unions out is a big job. It takes more knowledge and skill than most companies have in house. It takes manpower. It takes experience. It takes first-hand knowledge of labor law.

The professionals at American Consulting Group have all that and more. We're consultants with years of corporate experience. We're trained attorneys who bring creativity and professional skills together to best serve our clients....and we're former labor union officials who have been there ourselves.

We take great pride in our success...and we achieve that success by becoming an integral part of the companies for which we work. We learn their corporate philosophy. We understand their missions. We learn their employee practices. We know that maintaining your union-free status tale an all-out effort..and, at American Consulting, we're right there in the trenches with our clients. That's how victories are won in our business...and that's why American Consulting is the leading labor relations consultant in the country.

So..if you're facing a threat from organized labor, don't give up your rights or your employees rights. Even the odds. Call the American Consulting Group.