Posts tagged PAC
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.
Opinion: Radical Unions Elected Biden, Chaos Ensues on International Front, but Others Bank on Same Formula
October 26, 2023 // Additionally, Biden unveiled a $400 billion American Jobs Plan designed to force thousands of Medicaid home healthcare providers back into the union membership they declined following the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2014 ruling in Harris v. Quinn. Unofficially, Biden waited weeks to survey the damage in fire-ravaged Hawaii and still hasn’t visited East Palestine, Ohio, where a 38-car train wreck last February created a huge hazardous waste disaster. But he saw fit to wade into a private-sector labor dispute by siding with the striking United Auto Workers and became the first sitting president in history to join a picket line.
Commentary: The Sly Economics of Government Union Activism
September 13, 2023 // When presented with the option to relinquish this exclusive representation, thereby freeing themselves from the obligation to represent nonmembers, unions invariably refuse. This reveals a glaring contradiction in their position. On one hand, they lament the “free riders” who benefit from union representation without paying dues. On the other, they zealously guard their monopoly over the public workplace, wanting to represent everyone in a bargaining unit, whether a member or not. The issue transcends mere percentages and numbers; it’s a matter of trust, transparency, and financial autonomy. Unions must reevaluate their approach to membership and adapt to the new legal landscape. The question: Will unions serve their members and charge them accordingly, or maintain their own political agendas by overcharging?
Elisabeth Messenger: Where Do Your Union Dues Go?
September 1, 2023 // I think when a union can stay very independent and hyper-local, it can be what it was meant to be, and that is a force to speak for all, to help all, to protect all, to raise all at the same time. But again, it’s only when it’s independent it’s not tied to a national, bloated corporate union. And it’s only when it’s at the local level.
OPINION: Public sector union employees deserve more power over their leadership
May 15, 2023 // The attempt to alter the Pennsylvania Constitution by passing HB 950 will further diminish the rights of union members in favor of union executives. According to an analysis by the Commonwealth Foundation, government unions have spent more than $190 million on politics in Pennsylvania since 2007. In 2021-2022, government union PACs spent over $20 million in Pennsylvania, including $13.1 million directly to candidates and partisan PACs. More than 99% of the contributions to candidates for statewide office went to Democrats.
Op-ed Lawmakers: Protecting teachers’ paychecks is an Oklahoma priority
May 9, 2023 // Teachers across the country seem to be awakening to the gulf between their own values and the political bent of the unions. The National Education Association, which is one of the nation’s largest teachers union, ended 2022 with a net loss of 40,107 members, marking its lowest membership level since 2006. But educators shouldn’t be left to resist union overreach on their own. They need their state leaders to hold unions accountable and to protect teachers’ rights. Oklahoma leaders already have begun tackling this important issue. In 2021, we authored legislation, now reintroduced as Senate Bill 99, which would help protect teachers’ First Amendment rights to decide whether to pay union dues. Gov. Kevin Stitt followed in 2022 with an executive order calling for action on teacher notification, which would guarantee teachers a written notice to confirm that joining and paying a union is optional. State schools Superintendent Ryan Walters also has been a vocal proponent of teacher paycheck protection. Now the issue is front and center once again, not just in Oklahoma but across the country. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis unveiled a legislative proposal earlier this year to protect teachers’ constitutional freedoms, reduce union overreach and get Florida taxpayers out of the business of collecting union dues. Meanwhile, state leaders in Indiana also are prioritizing the needs of their teachers, and Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee has introduced similar legislation.
Chicago teachers file unfair labor charge against teachers union
April 14, 2023 // Several rank-and-file members of the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) officially filed an unfair labor practice charge against the union for allegedly funneling membership dues to the union’s political action committee (PAC) without their approval. The money was used to support CTU-endorsed mayoral candidate Brandon Johnson. The CTU’s Members First Caucus filed the complaint with the Illinois’ Educational Labor Relations Board and demanded that the dues payments to PACs stop immediately. The caucus noted the complaint filing is not about politics, rather it is over CTU’s alleged deceit to funnel their union membership dues to a mayoral candidate that the caucus members do not support.
Pennsylvania Musician Opposed To Funding Lefty Causes Challenges Forced Unionization
March 13, 2023 // “Before Covid, my contact with the union had been peripheral at best,” Wilkofsky said in an interview. “My union membership was forced on me as a condition of my employment. But I have found that the union is very politically active and does not really represent my interests. In fact, I would say the union is really a left-leaning political action committee that masquerades as an advocate for musicians. They support one political party nearly 100 percent of the time, and it looks to me like they spend zero percent of their time representing musicians.” The PAC for the American Federation of Musicians donated 100 percent of its contributions to Democrats in the 2019-2020 election cycle, according to campaign finance data.
Teachers need to think twice before they let unions into their paychecks
March 13, 2023 // According to Americans for Fair Treatment, the VEA reported $12.6 million in revenue in 2019 (based on IRS filings), with 82 percent of this coming from membership dues. As of 2019, the union’s largest liability was federal income tax. While the organization is tax-exempt, it is holding $4.2 million in case of “uncertain” federal income tax obligations. The second largest liability is the pension for union employees. Currently, the union’s pension obligation sits at $2.3 million, down from more than $4.7 million in 2017. Union employee salaries and benefits were the largest expense category but according to the latest filing, VEA had only 66 employees. Executive Director Brenda Pike was the highest-paid employee at $194,136 in base compensation, plus nearly $32,000 in retirement and nontaxable benefits. At the national level, NEA has 510 employees who earned an average salary of $134,000. Let that sink in. The union wants to take part of a teacher’s salary, up to $1,000 a year, knowing full well that teachers do not earn enough (in fact, using this as a recruitment talking point), so that they can first and foremost, pay their own union employees much, much more than most teachers will ever earn.