Posts tagged LM-2
Washington Union Racks Up Nearly $731,000 in Hotel and Entertainment-Venue Payments
November 10, 2026 // More than $264,000 to the InterContinental Los Angeles. Nearly $256,000 to the DoubleTree Seattle Airport. Almost $90,000 to the Hilton Seattle Airport. Those three hotel vendors alone received $609,429 from the Washington Federation of State Employees during fiscal year 2025, according to a new report from Americans for Fair Treatment. In total, AFFT identified $730,849 in payments to hotels and entertainment venues, raising questions about the cost of the union’s conventions, meetings and events—and what dues-paying workers received in return. “Six-figure bills deserve serious scrutiny,” said Chip Rogers, CEO of Americans for Fair Treatment. “Workers paying dues out of every paycheck deserve to know who attended these events, what the money purchased and how these expenses served their interests.”
Unearthed filing shows largest teachers unions poured over $900 million into political activities
October 28, 2026 // According to an investigation by the North American Values Institute (NAVI), a nonprofit watchdog that tracks ideological activism in education, the National Education Association (NEA) spent at least $547 million on political activity and advocacy between fiscal years 2016 and 2025. That total includes $458.9 million filed officially as political activity and lobbying, along with an additional $88.2 million in direct funding to progressive advocacy organizations. To finance its political activities, "NEA delegates approved a $10 dues increase for a ballot-measure and media fund projected to generate more than $20 million annually," the report stated. With more than 3 million members, the NEA is the largest teachers' union in the country.
NEW AFFT REPORT: Teachers Pour Millions Into Colorado’s Largest Union. CEA’s Spending Still Outruns Its Revenue
September 29, 2026 // CEA spent $17 million in fiscal year 2025, including $10.5 million — 61.4% of all spending — on salaries, benefits, pensions and payroll taxes for its own staff. For every dollar the union distributed in grants, it spent about $5.88 on its own workforce. And despite collecting roughly $13 million in membership dues, CEA’s expenses again exceeded its revenue when a one-time asset sale is excluded. CEA reported a $2.6 million surplus, but that included a $3.1 million gain from selling assets. Without that gain, CEA finished $535,034 in the red — the fourth consecutive year its expenses exceeded revenue on that basis. At the same time, accounts payable and accrued expenses nearly doubled in one year, from approximately $4.4 million to $8.8 million. CEA’s public filing does not specify what drove the increase.
Do Union Bosses Speak For The Working Class?
September 28, 2026 // Akash Chougule, the president of The Foundation for Research on Equal Opportunity, puts the mismatch bluntly: roughly 45 percent of union households voted Republican in 2024, while about 87 percent of union political spending benefited Democrats.
Commentary: Federal unions owe workers more transparency. Congress can help.
September 24, 2026 // Congress should also ask why so few have and strengthen union accountability by requiring unions to disclose in their filings the total number of workers they claim to represent versus the number of actual members. They should also be required to report election turnout data at all levels: eligible voters, ballots sent and ballots returned — similar to shareholder-vote disclosures. For example, some unions use “delegate” qualification procedures that can insulate national incumbents from direct member voting. As a matter of fair competition, challengers should have the same access to membership contact lists as incumbents, with sufficient time to mount a campaign, with direct member voting as the preferred standard.
Illinois Federation of Teachers: 7 things the union doesn’t want teachers to know
August 4, 2026 // IFT represents educators in more than 200 districts across Illinois. But teachers’ zip codes dictate how much support they actually get from the union.
Op-ed: Republicans should stop helping Democrats empower union bosses
July 29, 2026 // Policies built on employee choice, such as right-to-work protections, reflect what American workers actually want. The partisan legislation now moving through Congress reflects only what union leadership wants. Pro-worker legislation is not synonymous with pro-union legislation; in fact, they often are opposites. It is time for Congress to wake up and realize this.
Billionaire tax backers burn big money on retreats, out-of-state political efforts and breathing ‘coach’
July 22, 2026 // The Post’s review of federal records found that officials for Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West burned millions on an out-of-state political effort as well as dues on travel, conferences and beachfront retreats — all while paying nearly $235,000 to a “clarity coach” who appeared in a series of low-budget mindfulness videos on Instagram.
Americans For Fair Treatment Exposes AFT Ahead of D.C. Convention
July 15, 2026 // A new “Where Do Your Union Dues Go?” report examines the national union’s most recent IRS filing, federal lobbying disclosures and Federal Election Commission records. The findings reveal an organization that paid its president nearly $600,000, spent $72 million on its own workforce, suffered consecutive operating deficits and directed nearly all contributions from its separate federal political action committee to Democratic-aligned recipients. The report arrives as delegates prepare to consider a 204-page book of proposed constitutional amendments and resolutions at the union’s biennial convention.
Op-ed: Union transparency rules are only as strong as their enforcement
July 12, 2026 // Only after Ormond and Bilodeau sued their unions to compel them to follow the law did the agency finally start doing some of that “paperwork.” Last month, the department sent public-sector unions in the state a notice reminding them to follow the law, and it created an apparently new online portal for them to file the required financial reports. The department’s official guidance also said that unions must provide employees with hard copies of the reports and hold a meeting to discuss them.