Posts tagged political action committee
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.
GOVERNMENT UNIONS: AMERICA’S LARGEST, MOST TOXIC, PUBLICLY FUNDED LOBBY
February 20, 2023 // Collectively, labor unions throughout the country spent more than $778 million on political activities and gifts to political organizations in 2021 alone, and it wasn’t even an election year. Current reporting requirements make it impossible to determine precisely which of those dollars originated in the private sector rather than the public, but we know that roughly half of all the union members in America work in government, with the other half employed in private industry.
A charter by any other name
October 5, 2022 // In 1906, the federal government issued a federal charter to the National Education Association (NEA). This Congressional Charter was granted “for the purpose to elevate the character and advance the interests of the profession of teaching; and to promote the cause of education in the United States”. Other organizations that fall in the same category include Little League Baseball and the Girl Scouts of America. The NEA is the only labor union to hold such a charter, and they are only one of two organizations with a federal charter to have a Political Action Committee (PAC). The NEA charter was granted prior to any federal guidelines for charter approval, and there is an assumption that to keep this status it would now need to meet the requirements set forth in 1969, which include being, “organized and operated as a nonpartisan and nonprofit organization.” Clearly, this is not the case. Charles W. Baird wrote an extensive report on the NEA and why it no longer meets the criteria for a federal charter:
Northern PA Metal Worker Slams CWA Union with Federal Charges for Illegally Seizing Union PAC Money from Wages
May 5, 2022 // CWA officials also refused worker’s membership resignation, case comes as former CWA official Jennifer Abruzzo is top labor board prosecutor
Why Pennsylvania Needs Wisconsin-Style Government Union Reform
February 24, 2022 // Government union executives use this power to trap government employees in unions, deny them alternative representation, and lobby against fiscal and educational reforms needed to make Pennsylvania more prosperous.
‘Doorknockers’ challenge to California gig-worker law goes before Ninth Circuit
February 7, 2022 // Political canvassers and signature gatherers claim they should be treated as independent contractors, like salespeople and newspaper carriers.
MOONEY: Free Speech Suit against Teacher’s Union Could Boost Labor Reform
January 25, 2022 // “Pennsylvania should not have unconstitutional laws on its books. Nor should we use taxpayer-funded payroll systems to collect campaign cash. Correcting these problems will empower public employees and help ensure fairness in government. It’s encouraging to see House lawmakers moving to protect employees’ private data and shine the light of transparency on deals that cost taxpayers millions of dollars.”