Martin J. Levitt

Martin J. Levitt (14 October 1944 – 21 November 2004) was an American supervisory trainer, union buster and a union organizer on and off over a 20-year period before 1987 when he reportedly changed direction. He went from anti union to anti management and founded Justice for Labor Foundation and later wrote about his career in his autobiography released in 1993 entitled Confessions of a Union Buster which he authored with Terry Conrow Toczynski. The book found success among labor unions due to the lurid details he outlined about union busting tactics he claims to have used. Levitt says he entered the field in 1969 "as a young man with no particular feelings about unions but with a desire to use his considerable wits and smooth tongue to get ahead." Levitt stated that he was "one of the multimillion-dollar industry's best talents...caught up in the money and intellectual pleasure of the pursuit."

In the book, Levitt details his work history from an inexperienced consultant first hired by a former IBEW union organizer named John Sheridan who had earned his stripes as a disciple of Nathan Shefferman who wrote a guide to union busting. Levitt recalled during his interview that Sheridan's 2nd in command Nick Sangalis did a background check and found "one" criminal skeleton in his closet: a conviction for receiving stolen property which, as detailed in his book, would become one of a long list of criminal convictions along with chronic alcoholism and mental illness for which the latter was diagnosed in 1977. and spoke to the publisher of the RUB sheet (Report on Union Busters) saying "they had one less union buster to worry about". and soon thereafter he became an authority on union busting. His critics argue that he was an opportunist who found one more way to exploit labor unions.

Changing Sides

In his book, Levitt argues that "My awakening came in late 1987. I was making $200,000 a year and living on a five-acre wooded estate in an exclusive community. I traveled, dined and lodged first class, and drove only the finest luxury cars. By then I had directed more than 200 anti-union campaigns--and lost only five--and had trained craven managers to go and do likewise at their own companies. I was at the top of my field, one of the best and one of the richest. No, I was not driven from the field by need. I was driven by horror and remorse".

Levitt's detractors have viewed him as an opportunist. Some say his claims were untrue. Per Levitt: "When Nick Sangalis, Sheridan's second in command ratified my hiring, he commented 'the kid from Cleveland was the best damned bullshit artist I've ever met'". which got him in far more trouble than any dirty trick he ever played on a union. said, “Over the years I've trained about 155 people. There were maybe two I wish I'd never met. One was Levitt. I think of the movie 'Elmer Gantry,' where the guy is screwing everybody yet still convinced them he believed in God. I don't think Marty knows what the hell the truth is."