I recently saw a classified ad in the Gazette asking for volunteers
to help a "women's press collective" produce materials
about "struggles of farm workers and others for economic justice."
I also saw Women's Press Collective flyers posted around the neighborhood
and at street fairs.
Any Coop members attracted by the chance to work for economic
justice should be aware that, according to the Cult Awareness Network,
this group is not what it seems and is not primarily interested
in justice for farm workers. It is apparently an offshoot of the
National Labor Federation (NATLFED), described in a Boston Globe
article as "a secretive, cult-like radical group" whose
inner circle has revolutionary agenda unknown to the volunteers
the group pulls in through such fronts as the press collective.
It uses on its members many of the deceptive, restrictive, coercive
tactics associated with cults. According to a former member quoted
by the Globe, "They use poor people as flypaper to attract
members."
Another apparent offshoot of NATLFED is the Eastern Farm Workers
Association, for which the Women's Press Collective helps produce
newspapers. this group has been discredited by labor organizations,
the UFW, and by various newspapers, including the East Hampton Star,
which documented a history including psychological manipulation,
sleep and protein deprivation, and threats of physical harm if members
left the group. A group also said to be affiliated with NATLFED
is the Coalition of Concerned Medical Professionals.
So please, don't be mislead by the "progressive" language
of the Women's Press Collective ad, and be aware that young people
have been especially vulnerable. All the published reports tell
stories of young, idealistic volunteers "disappearing"
into this tightly controlled group. For more information, call the
Cult Awareness Network, listed in the phone book, or the Jewish
Family Services cult hotline.
Freedomofmind.com fully supports religious
freedom and the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
The fact that a person’s name or group appears on our website
does not necessarily mean they are a destructive mind control cult.
They appear because we have received inquiries and have established
a file on the group.
The Freedom of Mind Resource Center Inc. was established by cult expert Steve Hassan.
