Posts tagged PAC
Opinion: My teachers union calls it representation. I say there are $114 million reasons to sue them
October 28, 2025 // But during the current election cycle, I learned that the NJEA quietly sent more than $40 million from our dues to a political action committee — without the knowledge or consent of members, and without a shred of transparency. Even worse, union officials used that money — including my money — to serve themselves. Those funds fueled former NJEA President Sean Spiller’s failed gubernatorial run, while he was still president of the union. Even when it was quite clear that Spiller had no chance of winning (he ended up finishing a distant fifth in the Democratic primary), PACs supporting him recklessly burned through piles of our dues money as Spiller was on the campaign trail — all while he somehow also served "full-time" as union president, collecting his enormous salary and benefits package from that job.
Nation’s 2 largest teachers unions funneled nearly $50M to left-wing groups, watchdog report says
August 25, 2025 // Left-wing philanthropic behemoths like the Tides Network, New Venture Fund, Sixteen-Thirty Fund and Future Forward, the last of which was the main Super PAC supporting Kamla Harris' 2024 presidential run after former President Joe Biden dropped out, all received a combined nearly $1.5 million from the unions, according to the report. The unions also forked over significant amounts of cash for groups that focus on supporting left-wing candidates for public office, such as the Democratic Governors Association, Democrat's House Majority and Senate Majority PACs. Other groups they have donated to include major left-wing think tanks like the Center for American Progress and its 501(c)(4) arm, which received close to a million dollars since 2022 from the two unions.
Educator urges Illinois teachers to reject union pressure, politics and coercion
August 7, 2025 // Sarah Fletcher, a former charter school educator and now the Head of School at White Horse Academy, a private school, said her own teaching career trajectory was shaped by a desire to avoid union involvement altogether. “When we moved here to Illinois from Arizona, I had very little interest in teaching at the public school,” Fletcher said. “Part of that was because I didn’t want to be pressured into or have to be mandated to pay dues. The IEA and IFT, which are part of larger organizations like the NEA, use the majority of their funds not to represent teachers, but for political advocacy.”
United Auto Workers Union Praises Trump’s Tariffs on Canada, Mexico
March 5, 2025 // The UAW is blaming corporate America for the potential price hikes brought by Trump’s tariffs on a range of Mexican and Canadian goods including electronics, agricultural products, vehicles, and auto parts. Markets reacted negatively to the onset of Trump’s tariffs Tuesday as many economists expect prices to increase because of them. The labor union is hoping to work with the Trump administration on the auto tariffs Trump has promised for next month.
Analysis: 93% of Idaho teachers union political spending benefited Democrats in 2024
February 19, 2025 // In short, the IEA may endorse GOP candidates that it finds ideologically compatible if those candidates are going to win anyway but, in competitive races where its support might make a difference, the IEA consistently backs Democrats while simultaneously throwing moral support behind the Democrat candidate in any race involving a Republican it doesn’t think it can work with.
Public employee unions took over Michigan. Now they’re eyeing Pennsylvania
May 7, 2024 // Bad as this is for taxpayers, the union-backed legislators have made things even worse for workers. A new law requires government employers to provide unions with employees’ personal contact information within 30 days of hiring. Employers must update and resubmit this information every 90 days. Unions are thus given free rein to inundate workers with political or other material whether it is wanted or not.
Commentary: When Unions Play Politics
December 22, 2023 // Nearly 96 percent of union PAC spending went to support Democratic candidates and organizations for use in federal and state campaigns. Meanwhile, membership dues support a thriving ecosystem of progressive-oriented organizations, which is hardly reflective of the range of viewpoints represented within membership. However, even workers ideologically aligned with union executives may resent their money going to political projects in other states. Nearly 60 percent of all state-level PAC spending went to five states: Illinois ($27.9 million), California ($24.9 million), Minnesota ($13.2 million), Pennsylvania ($12.1 million), and Washington ($7.5 million).
Political Spending by Public-Sector Unions Is Deep Blue
December 19, 2023 // Nearly $160 million of that amount came from member contributions to their PACs. The rest of the political money came from union dues. It’s not possible to get an equally clear picture where that money went. David Osborne, senior fellow of labor policy at the Commonwealth Foundation and a co-author of the report, is troubled by the lack of transparency. But he says there are signs that, as with the PAC contributions, union dues are disproportionately supporting progressive causes. He’s concerned that union leaders are thus making choices about political spending that don’t reflect the priorities of all union members. Osborne recognizes that as many as 60 or 70 percent of public-sector union members might be Democrats. But only 4 percent of union PAC dollars went to Republican causes. “That imbalance seems to me to be something more than paying their dues to the government,” he says. “Instead, there seems to be an agenda that members have very little control over.”
Government Unions Love Democrats
December 6, 2023 // The four largest government unions are the National Education Association (NEA), American Federation of Teachers (AFT), Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (Afscme). In the 2021-2022 election cycle, they spent more than $708 million combined on politics.
Legal watchdog: Teachers union appears to not pay taxes on political spending
November 6, 2023 // AFT reported having $203 million in total revenue in 2020. On the Form 990 that is filed with the federal government, the question is asked, "Did the organization engage in direct or indirect political campaign activities on behalf of or in opposition to candidates for public office? If 'Yes,' complete Schedule C, Part I." For the 2020 calendar year, AFT checked "No." Michael O'Neill, vice president of legal affairs at Landmark Legal Foundation, said that is problematic since the spending wasn't listed with the PAC. "They are saying not one cent of the over $200 million they take in annually is used for indirect or direct political activity," O'Neill said.