Posts tagged PAC
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.
Opting Out: Public Employees Speak Out
March 3, 2025 // Not only did the deductions continue after her promotion, but she also discovered that she was now being charged for contributions to SEIU 503’s political action committee (PAC) —something she never agreed to. At this point, it was no longer just about the money; it was about principle. She had explicitly opted out, but SEIU 503 ignored her request, gave her false information and then enrolled her in additional dues categories without her permission. To make matters worse, when she contacted her payroll department for help, they told her it wasn’t their problem and directed her back to SEIU 503 — without even providing contact information.
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.
Port Strike Leader Harold Daggett and ILA Union’s Political Donations
October 3, 2024 // In 2022, the PAC contributed nearly double, with $220,000 to Democratic candidates and $13,500 to Republicans. In the last 10 years, most annual contributions have averaged under $200,000—significantly less than in previous decades. In 2000, the PAC gave $562,300 to Democrats and $41,750 to Republicans, a total of $607,050. The largest individual campaign donations at the time were $18,000 to then-Democratic Whip David Bonior. A separately registered ILA PAC identifies North Bergen, New Jersey—where the union is headquartered—in its name. Similarly, the PAC contributes to campaigns and other PACs, making several small donations to state and U.S. House races. In 2020, it donated $5,000 to Biden's presidential campaign and $50,000 to a general majority PAC, according to OpenSecrets.
Majority of Workers at Detroit-Area Hydraulic Tooling Firm Seek Vote to Oust UAW Union Bosses
September 12, 2024 // Production and maintenance employees at Hydra-Lock Corp. a hydraulic tooling company based in Mt. Clemens, Michigan, have just submitted a petition seeking a vote to remove United Auto Workers (UAW) Local 155 union officials from power at their workplace. Hydra-Lock employee Keith Woody submitted the petition to National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) Region 7 in Detroit with free legal aid from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys.
Government Unions are Down — But Not Out
September 10, 2024 // For nearly a decade, the Commonwealth Foundation has tracked state-by-state changes in labor laws. Every two years, the Commonwealth Foundation releases its research on the ever-changing legal landscape for public sector unions, assessing each state’s efforts to promote public employees’ rights or cave to unions’ entrenched influence. This fourth edition examines government unions’ attempts, following Janus, to hold onto and expand special legal privileges under state laws. The research also highlights the states reining in government unions’ power and influence by empowering workers.
Op-Ed: Union membership is now political. So can the government still require people to associate with a union?
July 10, 2024 // Since then, employees have argued that exclusive union representation does violate the First Amendment. Exclusivity saddles them with the “services” of nakedly political bargaining agents. Lower courts have turned those arguments aside mostly because of an older case, Minnesota Board for Community Colleges v. Knight, which suggested that exclusive representation was okay in the public sector. Knight seemed to say that when the government bargains about working conditions, it can choose its own bargaining partner. And if it chooses one exclusive union to bargain with, that choice burdens no one’s associational rights. But whether or not that’s what Knight meant, the decision has no bearing on private-sector bargaining. In the private sector, the government does not choose its own bargaining partner; it imposes one on private parties. And some of those parties object to their unions’ political views—views that are increasingly central to unionization itself. So private-sector bargaining raises a different question: can the government force private citizens to associate with a union when that union’s core purpose is increasingly political? (Elsewhere, I have argued at greater length that it cannot.)
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.
California legislators seek corruption law exemptions for unions, developers
May 7, 2024 // In California, the three largest donor types by sector are organized labor, including public sector unions representing state and local government employees, real estate, including developers seeking permits or regulatory changes, and healthcare, which includes healthcare providers and healthcare worker unions with lucrative government contracts. By exempting unions and most real estate, the new bill would allow unions representing government employees or workers with government contracts to donate to candidates who will support paying them more, and developers to more transparently donate to politicians who will approve their projects; while businesses and unions typically oppose each other on legislation, their shared interest in maintaining political access have created an unusual alliance.
Funds pour into Anaheim Councilwoman Natalie Rubalcava recall election
May 2, 2024 // On Jan. 30, Unite Here Local 11, a union that represents hotel workers in Anaheim, chipped in $30,000 through its own PAC in seeking Rubalcava’s ouster but hasn’t reported any new contributions since council members scheduled the recall election during a February council meeting. The union sponsored a petition against Rubalcava before getting the recall qualified on the ballot.