It’s not often you see business leaders stand up to smear campaigns ordered by labor leaders. But Wackenhut, a security firm, is resisting an organizing drive by Service Employees International Union bosses which would deny employees the right to a secret ballot vote. Now Wackenhut is gathering several stories (many of which frequent Labor Pains readers will recognize) to balance the story. From the release:

• SEIU was recently forced to abandon multiple Kaiser Permanente units across the Southern California area after use of coercive union organizing methods, according to the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation.
• SEIU filed a lawsuit, post 9/11, to try and overturn the law requiring federal baggage screeners at airports to be U.S. citizens.
• SEIU officials have been indicted or convicted of embezzlement of union funds.
• A former SEIU Local 99 president has been charged in a federal indictment with conspiracy and 17 counts of embezzling union funds as a result of an investigation into former Los Angeles City Councilman Martin Ludlow.
• A New York Sun business reporter said, “SEIU now seems to depend more on corporate intimidation rather than recruiting.”
• The director of strategic research for the AFSCME union said, “UDW-AFSCME home-care workers across the state were tricked and coerced into signing membership cards with (SEIU) Local 434B.”

UPDATE: “Wackenhut a challenge to security guard union drive”