Victor Kamber - The Kamber Group Years

The Kamber Group Years

Kamber left the AFL-CIO in 1980 and founded his own public relations firm, The Kamber Group.

During his first year, his announced goal was to become the "Hill & Knowlton of the left," but his current anniversary press kit observes that the firm is "often referred to as the 'Bob Gray and Company of the left,'" a reference to the fast-growing Georgetown concern with strong White House ties.

The Kamber Group quickly known as one of Washington's hottest public relations firms. In time, it became one of the nation's largest independently-owned consulting and public relations firms.

Almost immediately, Kamber took on some very high-profile clients. He established a legal defense fund for Rep. Frank Thompson, Jr. (D-New Jersey), who was caught in the federal government's Abscam sting. He also supported a movement to draft Sen. Ted Kennedy for the Democratic presidential nomination.

In 1982, Kamber founded the Progressive Political Action Committee (ProPAC). ProPAC was a political action committee which sought to counteract political election spending by the National Conservative Political Action Committee (NCPAC) by supporting Democratic candidate for federal office. Kamber served as ProPAC's treasurer. ProPAC shut down its operations in 1983.

Kamber did not neglect his labor roots, however. He was counsel for the NFL Players Association during the 1982 National Football League strike. He also served as a public relations consultant and spokesman for the Laborers' International Union of North America (LIUNA). In April 1983, the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations heard testimony that reputed Chicago mobster Tony Accardo "hand-picked" Edward T. Hanley of the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees and Angelo Fosco of LIUNA to be presidents of their respective unions. Kamber helped LIUNA strategize a political and public relations response to the allegations. Kamber pushed his consulting firm to get into labor organizing campaigns as well. In 1984, he sued Ray Rogers, president of Corporate Campaigns, Inc., over Rogers' attempt to patent the term "corporate campaign." He also advised Doris Turner in her unsuccessful re-election bid for president of the Drug, Hospital, and Health Care Employees Union (better known as Local 1199) in 1986.

In 1984, Kamber served as a national campaign advisor to Sen. Alan Cranston during his run for the U.S. presidency. However, Kamber eventually resigned as political and public relations consultant to the campaign after complaining that Cranston's personal staff pushed him to the side. The relationship between Kamber and the Cranston campaign deteriorated further when Kamber sought a temporary restraining order freezing the campaign's funds. Kamber claimed the Cranston campaign owned him $150,000, but the funds were unfrozen a short time later.

In 1987, Kamber established Americans Against Government Control of Unions. The outfit was a non-profit company whose goal was to build public opinion against government takeovers of corrupt labor unions. William Olwell, vice president of the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW), was the group's treasurer. Kamber formed the group as UFCW, the Teamsters and other unions were under investigation for labor racketeering and domination by organized crime. Although The Kamber Group was working for the Teamsters at the time, Kamber asserted that the formation of his new organization was unrelated to the government's investigation of the Teamsters.

In 1988, Kamber played a key role in helping re-affiliate the Teamsters with the AFL-CIO. The union had been ejected from the labor federation in the 1950s over charges of corruption, but the AFL-CIO had been asking the Teamsters to rejoin the federation throughout the 1980s. William H. Wynn, president of UFCW, and BCTD president Georgine, assisted by Kamber, negotiated the Teamsters' return.

Kamber turned his attention back to politics in 1992. He supported the U.S presidential candidacy of Sen. Tom Harkin. Although he did not become involved in a presidential campaign to the extent that he did in 1984, Kamber nevertheless played a big role in the 1992 election. In July of that year, he established a political action committee called Americans for Change. The group's goal was to raise $1 million to run attack ads against President George H. W. Bush.

In 1993, Kamber led the battle to end a Republican filibuster of the nomination of William B. Gould IV to be chair of the National Labor Relations Board. The Republicans eventually gave up the filibuster, and Gould was confirmed.

In 2002, Kamber became a paid spokesman for the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades, acting as political consultant and public relations expert for the union.

In 2003, Kamber established the Kamber Group Political Action Fund, a political action committee. Kamber became the PAC's treasurer.