Obama's Favorite CEO: Anti-Union Frederick Smith of FedEx
by ammasdarling
Sat Feb 13, 2010 at 07:37:23 AM PST
This is a short diary because the words speak for themselves. In an interview with Bloomberg on February 11, Obama named Frederick Smith of Federal Express as his favorite CEO.
Smith is an unlikely choice to say the least. He raised more than $100,000 for the McCain campaign and was co-chair of his finance committee. He is also "fiendishly anti-union," in the words of Doug Henwood; he has been engaged in a long-running battle with the labor movement over allowing the company’s workers to unionize. Unions were key allies of Obama during his presidential campaign.
I am not an expert on labor relations in this country, but I do make sure to read about the state of unions as they are essential to creating a progressive majority in Congress. I have known that FedEx has been very strongly anti-union for a long time. If I know that, so does our President.
- ammasdarling's diary :: ::
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It is possible to admire Frederick Smith for his ingenuity and leadership in creating the Federal Express corporation which pioneered next day delivery. However, I find it appalling that Barack Obama can say publicly that Smith is the CEO he most admires. If I were a Democratic politician I would never mention Smith as admirable precisely because of his anti-unioin policies. And if I were a member of a union, I would feel like I had been slapped in the face upon reading that Obama had said that about Smith.
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