DAVID OSBORNE OF COMMONWEALTH FOUNDATION JOINS DAWN LIVE! HE EXPANDS ON THE REPORT CLAIMING THAT GOV SHAPIRO WAS THE LARGEST RECIPIENT OF PUBLIC UNION MONEY IN THE NATION...
Government Unions Spent Over $708 Million on Near-Exclusively Leftist Causes
New research shows public-sector unions have become cash cows to advance progressive politics.
Harrisburg, Pa., December 7, 2023 — The four largest public-sector unions—the National Education Association (NEA), the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU)—spent $708.8 million on political activities across the country during the 2021-22 election cycle, according to a new report from the Commonwealth Foundation. The research combines campaign finance data at the state and federal levels with union tax filings to paint a complete picture of public-sector union political activity.
The report, titled "The Battle for Worker Freedom: How Government Unions Fund Politics Across the Country," exposes the substantial influence that public-sector union executives have in shaping the national political landscape and advocating for a progressive agenda in red and blue states.
Its findings, moreover, challenge the typical union narrative that membership dues are not used for politics. Government union political action committee (PAC) contributions accounted for just 40 percent of political spending, with union membership dues accounting for the remaining 60 percent. In many states, union dues are deducted automatically through taxpayer-funded public payroll systems, raising serious questions about union executives’ accountability to membership, who may be unaware of their role in funding executives’ political projects.
David R. Osborne is the Senior Fellow for Labor Policy with the Commonwealth Foundation.
David is an attorney with on-the-ground experience advocating for teachers, firefighters, and other public employees mistreated by union officials. Before joining the Commonwealth Foundation, David was the CEO of Americans for Fair Treatment, a nonprofit organization that supports, educates, and empowers public employees to exercise their First Amendment rights.
He also served as President & General Counsel of the Fairness Center, a nonprofit, public-interest law firm providing free legal representation to those hurt by public sector union officials, and as a Presidential appointee to the Federal Service Impasses Panel, which resolves labor impasses between federal agencies and federal employee unions.
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