Portside

Over decades, a boutique of consultants, industrial psychologists, and specialist lawyers--spending an estimated $340 million a year--has played a significant role in subduing the labor movement, and has helped keep U.S. unions pinned down to this day.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is pushing for 400,000 new visas for foreign workers, a demand that has been met with fierce resistance by labor unions and which could help derail an agreement between the two sides over an immigration reform bill being developed in Congress.