Kulture Consulting
Kulture Consulting describes itself as an "employee and labor relations consultancy that specializes in identifying, addressing and resolving workplace issues."[1] It has engaged in anti-union work for companies including AT&T, Coca-Cola, Trump Casinos, and Whole Foods.[2][3][4] Kulture Media, an offshoot of the consulting company, is linked to several right-wing social media accounts, including those which have posted QAnon conspiracy theories and disinformation about election fraud.[2]
Contents
News and Controversies
Kulture Media
Kulture Media is an offshoot of Kulture Consulting. An In These Times investigation found that the company was linked to several right-wing social media accounts, including ones under the name "Dienekes' Place" that "spread QAnon conspiracy theories, disinformation and memes that may implicitly encourage right-wing violence."[2]
Clients
Kulture Consulting claims, "Our clients range from small family-owned businesses to large corporations that are not just in the Fortune 500 List, but are among the top Fortune 25."[1] In These Times says the company "has worked with multinationals like Coca-Cola and AT&T, as well as the security products manufacturer Allegion and the medical testing giant LabCorp."[2] A former Whole Foods employee has written about Kulture Consulting's anti-union work for Whole Foods and Trump Casinos.[3][4]
Although many of these companies used the services of an organization that spread far-right conspiracy theories, including QAnon and election fraud, they released statements condemning the January 6, 2021 Capitol riots. In These Times says, "Allegion’s CEO supported a statement from the National Association of Manufactures urging VP Mike Pence to consider invoking the 25th amendment to remove Trump from office. AT&T called the Capitol riot “an appalling insurrection bent on blocking the peaceful transfer of power following a free and fair election.” Coca-Cola announced that it was “stunned by the unlawful and violent events” perpetrated by QAnon followers and Trump supporters at the Capitol. Yet none felt compelled to mention their past business relationships with Kulture Consulting."[2]
Anti-Union Work
James Hulsizer and Trump Casions
Kulture Consulting's website links to anti-union groups such as Rick Berman's Center for Union Facts and the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation. The company was co-founded by James Hulsizer, a former union organizer who claimed "he got sick of selling a defective product" and left to work for Trump Casino Services, "with one of his first assignments being the education of non-union workers on the effects of unionization."[3][5]
Donald Trump hired Kulture Consulting in 2007 and 2008 amid a National Labor Relations Board investigation which found Trump Casino Services had committed multiple labor infractions, including engaging "in objectionable conduct by interrogating employees regarding their union sympathies, by threatening that supervisors would no longer grant employees’ requests for time off, approve schedule changes, or correct no-call/no-show designations, and by threatening that employees would lose their jobs if they selected the Union to represent them."[3]
Whole Foods
Whole Foods hired Kulture Consulting in 2016 a few days "before a union election was filed by the Chemical Production Workers Union Local No. 30 at a Whole Foods distribution center located at Pompano Beach in Florida. One document states that Kulture 'presented informational meetings to company employees relative to the process of unionization, the role of the NLRB, and collective bargaining.'"[4]
Personnel
Staff
- Peter List, Co-Founder and CEO
Former Staff
- James Hulsizer, Co-Founder and Former COO (died in 2018)
Contact
Website: http://uskulture.com
Web contact: http://uskulture.com/contact-us/
Articles and Resources
Related SourceWatch
- AT&T
- Center for Union Facts
- Coca-Cola
- Donald Trump
- In These Times
- Mike Pence
- National Labor Relations Board
- National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation
- Rick Berman
- Whole Foods
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Kulture Consulting, Kulture, organizational website, accessed April 28, 2021.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 John See, "The Union-Busting Consultant Spreading Far-Right Conspiracy Theories", In These Times, April 26, 2021, accessed April 28, 2021.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Matthew Hunt, "Trump & the Union-Busters: Co-Founder of Reactionary Union Busting Company Handled Labor Relations at Trump Casino", Medium, July 2, 2018, accessed May 1, 2021
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Matt Hunt, "Whole Foods Hired Far-Right Wing Activist as Union Buster", Medium, June 8, 2018, accessed May 1, 2021.
- ↑ Press of Atlantic City, "Obituary: Hulsizer, James", Press of Atlantic City, April 11, 2018, accessed May 1, 2021.
