By early 2017, 28 U.S. states have right-to-work laws, with eight traditionally industrial and union-strong states adopting the legislation since 2010 using American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) model legislation: Indiana and Michigan (2012), Wisconsin (2015), West Virginia (2016), and …
American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC)Koch brothersAmericans for ProsperityU.S. Chamber of CommerceNational Association of Manufacturers+1 morelabor-suppressionalecright-to-workunion-bustingstate-capture+4 more
U.S. businesses and the Mexican government launch a $25 million coordinated lobbying and public relations campaign to secure Congressional approval of NAFTA, overcoming fierce opposition from labor unions and environmental groups. The Business Roundtable, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and National …
Business RoundtableU.S. Chamber of CommerceNational Association of ManufacturersAmerican ExpressMexican Government+2 morenaftacorporate-lobbyingtrade-policylabor-oppositionbusiness-roundtable+2 more
In 1989, major fossil fuel and automobile companies formed the Global Climate Coalition (GCC), an industry front group that would spend over a decade blocking international climate action while publicly claiming the science was uncertain. Internal documents later revealed the coalition’s own …
ExxonMobilShellChevronFord Motor CompanyGeneral Motors+3 moreenvironmentalclimate-denialcorporate-lobbyingfossil-fuelsregulatory-capture+1 more
After six cloture attempts fail to break a Senate filibuster, the Labor Law Reform Act of 1978 dies on June 22, marking the most significant corporate lobbying victory since Taft-Hartley and demonstrating that even with Democratic supermajorities and a Democratic president, business interests can …
Business RoundtableU.S. Chamber of CommerceNational Association of ManufacturersAFL-CIOU.S. Senate+1 morelaborlabor-lawfilibustercorporate-lobbyingbusiness-roundtable+1 more
On October 18, 1972, Congress overrode President Nixon’s veto of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act Amendments, known as the Clean Water Act. The overwhelming bipartisan override (52-12 in the Senate, 247-23 in the House) represented a rare defeat for industrial polluters who had lobbied …
Richard NixonEdmund MuskieAmerican Petroleum InstituteChemical Manufacturers AssociationNational Association of Manufacturers+1 moreenvironmentalclean-water-actregulatory-capturecorporate-lobbyingpollution+1 more
On December 29, 1970, President Richard Nixon signed the Occupational Safety and Health Act, creating the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and establishing for the first time comprehensive federal authority to set and enforce workplace safety standards. The legislation responded …
President Richard NixonU.S. CongressAFL-CIONational Association of ManufacturersChamber of Commerceworker-rightsregulatory-reformcorporate-lobbyinglabor-movementpublic-health
The Business-Industry Political Action Committee is founded in August 1963 as the first business political action committee, with initial funding and staff provided by the National Association of Manufacturers, establishing corporate infrastructure for direct political campaign contributions and …
Business-Industry Political Action CommitteeNational Association of ManufacturersBIPACpolitical-action-committeespaccampaign-financenamcorporate-political-spending+1 more
The National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) board selects Werner P. Gullander as the organization’s first full-time permanent president by 1962, following a late 1950s organizational restructuring where declining membership resulted in a takeover by larger corporations that purged …
National Association of ManufacturersWerner P. GullanderNational Defense Committeenammilitary-industrial-complexdefense-contractorscorporate-lobbyingmilitarization
National Association of Manufacturers Executive Vice President Charles R. Sligh Jr. delivers speeches in late 1958 calling for businessmen to become more involved in politics to build a “conservative coalition,” including presentations titled “This Is Public Affairs for the …
Charles R. Sligh Jr.National Association of Manufacturersnamconservative-movementbusiness-political-mobilizationcorporate-lobbying
A sophisticated anti-communist network coordinated by the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) and Chamber of Commerce reaches peak effectiveness in suppressing labor organizing during the early Cold War. The Hagley Museum and Library’s NAM collection contains extensive materials from …
National Association of ManufacturersChamber of CommerceAmerican LegionJ.B. MatthewsHearst Corporation+1 moreanti-communismlabor-suppressioncorporate-propagandared-scareunion-busting+1 more
Legislative aides and representatives from business and industry, particularly members of the National Association of Manufacturers, draft committee bill H.R. 3020 that becomes the Taft-Hartley Act during 1947, with Congressman Donald O’Toole of New York later revealing that the anti-union …
National Association of ManufacturersRobert TaftFred HartleyDonald O'TooleJoseph Ball+2 moretaft-hartleylabor-suppressioncorporate-lobbyingnamlegislative-capture+1 more
The Office of Price Administration effectively ends on November 9, 1946, when President Truman removes controls on most consumer goods following intense corporate lobbying and deliberate business disruption. The premature decontrol triggers an immediate inflationary spike that harms consumers while …
Office of Price AdministrationHarry TrumanNational Association of ManufacturersU.S. Chamber of CommerceCongress+1 morederegulationcorporate-influenceinflationprice-controlsconsumer-exploitation
President Truman signs the Employment Act of 1946 on February 20, a dramatically weakened version of the Full Employment Bill of 1945. The original bill would have guaranteed a federal job to every American seeking work and required the government to maintain full employment. After intensive …
CongressHarry TrumanNational Association of ManufacturersU.S. Chamber of CommerceCouncil of Economic Advisers+1 morecorporate-influencelabor-policyeconomic-policylegislative-capturederegulation
The National Association of Manufacturers launches a massive multi-faceted propaganda campaign in response to the unprecedented 1946 strike wave, when nearly 10 percent of the US workforce goes on strike including major actions by the United Auto Workers against General Motors, United Steel Workers …
National Association of ManufacturersNational Industrial Information CouncilGeneral MotorsU.S. SteelGeneral Electric+3 morepropagandalabor-suppressioncorporate-lobbyingnamunion-busting+1 more
President Harry Truman delivers a special message to Congress on September 6, 1945, presenting an ambitious 21-point program for postwar America that includes full employment legislation, minimum wage increases, national health insurance, expanded Social Security, and permanent Fair Employment …
Harry TrumanCongressNational Association of ManufacturersU.S. Chamber of CommerceConservative Coalition+1 morenew-deal-rollbackcorporate-influencelegislative-capturelabor-policypostwar-politics
Congress passes the Excess Profits Tax Act on October 8, 1940, establishing graduated taxes on corporate profits exceeding pre-war averages. While ostensibly designed to prevent war profiteering and ensure shared sacrifice, the legislation contains numerous loopholes secured through corporate …
CongressFranklin D. RooseveltTreasury DepartmentNational Association of ManufacturersU.S. Chamber of Commercewar-profiteeringtax-policycorporate-influenceregulatory-captureloopholes
The La Follette Civil Liberties Committee exposes and names the “Mohawk Valley Formula” in 1936-1937, documenting a systematic corporate strategy for breaking strikes and defeating union organizing campaigns that James Rand Jr., president of Remington Rand, developed during the 1936 …
Remington RandJames Rand Jr.National Association of ManufacturersLa Follette Committeecorporate managementunion-bustingcorporate-resistancelabor-suppressionpropagandawagner-act+1 more
President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the Social Security Act on August 14, 1935, establishing the first comprehensive federal system for old-age pensions, unemployment insurance, and aid to dependent children and the disabled, creating the foundation of the American social safety net. Labor …
Franklin D. RooseveltFrances PerkinsU.S. CongressAmerican Liberty LeagueNational Association of Manufacturers+1 morelabor-rightsnew-dealsocial-insurancecorporate-resistancedemocratic-reform
In 1935, the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) under president Robert Lund launches what Business Week headlines as “The NAM Declares War” (December 14, 1935)—an unprecedented multi-million dollar propaganda campaign to discredit Roosevelt’s New Deal and promote …
National Association of ManufacturersRobert LundDu PontGeneral MotorsAT&T+3 morecorporate-resistancepropagandanew-dealinstitutional-capturemedia-manipulation+1 more
Major American corporations deployed company-sponsored unions, benefits programs, and internal grievance systems as sophisticated anti-union strategies during the peak of 1920s welfare capitalism. Rather than negotiating with outside union representatives, companies like Goodyear Tire and U.S. Steel …
Goodyear TireU.S. SteelNational Association of ManufacturersSamuel Gomperslabor-suppressioncorporate-captureanti-unioninstitutional-capture
The National Industrial Conference Board (NICB), founded in 1916, reaches peak influence during the 1920s as the research and propaganda arm of corporate America’s campaign against labor organizing. Working alongside the National Association of Manufacturers and U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the …
National Industrial Conference BoardNational Association of ManufacturersU.S. Chamber of CommerceAmerican Plan Associationpropagandalabor-suppressioncorporate-influenceinstitutional-capturepublic-relations
Business leaders including Henry Clay Frick, Judge Elbert Gary, and John D. Rockefeller Jr. launched a coordinated campaign to roll back labor gains by promoting the “open shop” as patriotic while branding union membership as “un-American.” Meeting in Chicago in 1921, …
National Association of ManufacturersChamber of CommerceU.S. SteelHenry Clay FrickElbert Gary+1 morelabor-suppressioncorporate-captureanti-unionsystematic-corruption