Koch Network / Anti-Labor Infrastructure
mechanism
A 50-year, billionaire-funded campaign quietly dismantled American labor unions and built the legal foundation for the gig economy.
Who they are
The Koch network and its allied anti-labor infrastructure of think tanks.
What they do
The engine treats it as the defensive shield for capital — the machinery that legally weakened worker organizing.
How it works
The Heritage Foundation, American Enterprise Institute, and Koch network funded a decades-long push producing Right-to-Work laws in 27 states, the 2018 Janus ruling that gutted public-sector unions, and California's $200 million Prop 22; intellectually it runs from Hayek and Friedman through the Volker and Relm foundations, framing collective bargaining as a 'market distortion,' feeding a $400-million-a-year union-avoidance industry (Amazon's 2023 filings show $4.3 million on anti-union consultants, some interrogators charging $9,000 a day).
Why it matters
The engine reads this network as the legal groundwork that enabled the gig economy and the cheap-labor foundation of the emerging tech-run economy.
The engine's record — word for word
Heritage Foundation, American Enterprise Institute, Koch network funded 50-year intellectual and legislative destruction of labor. Drove Right-to-Work laws (27 states), Janus v. AFSCME (2018, gutted public sector unions), Prop 22 ($200M). Intellectual lineage: Hayek/Friedman via Volker Fund/Relm Foundation → neoclassical framing of collective bargaining as market distortion. $400M+/year union-avoidance industry. Amazon 2023 LM-10 filings: $4.3M on anti-union consultants, individual interrogators at $9K/day. This network IS the defensive shield for capital extraction — laid the legal groundwork for gig economy and Technate labor substrate.
Follow the trail
Walk this on the live map →