Unions and Community Activists Demand UC End Relationship With Hill & Knowlton

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August 1, 2007

Unions and Community Activists Demand that UC End Relationship With Hill & Knowlton

Oakland, CA - A coalition of Unions representing University of California employees and community activists issued a letter today demanding that the University of California immediately end all relationships with the public relations firm Hill & Knowlton.

"We are outraged with the decision by the University of California to associate with and take recommendations from a corporation with the historical record of representing some of the worst entities in the world. Unfortunately, this becomes another example of how the leadership of the University of California is out of step with the values of California", stated LaKesha Harrison, President, American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 3299.

Hill and Knowlton have represented many controversial clients. In the early 1950's, Hill & Knowlton was contracted by the tobacco industry to help develop the industry's public strategy to combat growing medical evidence that smoking tobacco was dangerous to one's health. Hill & Knowlton provided key ingredients for the tobacco industry's public response and was instrumental in having the industry create the Tobacco Institute.

"It was this immoral and deadly strategy that lead to the tobacco industry providing decades of misinformation to the public that would cause the unnecessary deaths of hundreds of thousands of people. It is unacceptable for the UC System, and their public hospitals, to hire such a firm", stated Jeff Myers, Vice President of Patient Care, AFSCME Local 3299.

As published in the acclaimed book "Trust Us Were Experts", in 1981 Hill & Knowlton accepted clients that were concerned with the growing medical evidence being published by Dr. Herbert Needleman demonstrating the sever negative health effects of lead exposure among children. After the Environmental Protection Agency adopted Dr. Needleman's research findings, Hill & Knowlton was involved in circulating misinformation on those findings to attempt to sway public opinion against the EPA and Dr. Needleman. Twenty years later, Dr. Needleman is recognized by those in public health and medicine as playing a key role in ensuring the adoption of environmental health protections that lead to the a five fold decrease in childhood lead poisoning.

"We find it unacceptable that the leadership of the University of California would decide to have this great public institution associated with those that have worked on public relations strategies that misinformed the public about serious health risks. We call upon the University to immediately sever all contracts for services with Hill & Knowlton and to issue a public apology to the people of California" stated LaKesha Harrison, President, AFSCME Local 3299.

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