 AFL-CIO’s Washington, D.C., headquarters collected $78.8 million in membership
payments from its affiliated unions and spent $44.8 million on political
activities and lobbying during the 2015 fiscal year ending in June.
While Missouri unions and their left-wing allies fought right-to-work last year,
AFL-CIO sent $88,073 to the Missouri AFL-CIO, $40,000 to activist group Progress
Missouri and $10,000 to union front Missouri Jobs With Justice.
Right-to-work laws let workers choose whether to pay AFL-CIO affiliates and
other labor unions — giving workers the ability to opt out of a cycle in which
unions funnel money into causes that increase government spending and help
unions take more money from workers.
The two largest AFL-CIO affiliates are public employee unions whose income is
taken from government workers. Trumka, who berates private corporations for
paying executives more than entry-level workers, was paid $304,121 last year.
Other Missouri expenditures in AFL-CIO’s 2015 annual report included $30,000 in
state legislative consulting payments to a firm run by Ryan Burke, “one of the
rising stars in the field of Democratic operatives” according to The Missouri
Times.
RELATED: Missouri workers lose against labor union Goliath
AFL-CIO spending reported to the U.S. Department of Labor confirms Trumka’s
political interests extend beyond blocking right-to-work, and they aren’t
restricted to any particular state.
Fight for Florida, a “diverse coalition of labor, faith and community
organizations” campaigning for minimum wage hikes and other union priorities out
of the Florida AFL-CIO’s Tallahassee office, received $70,006 from AFL-CIO
headquarters.
The Remington Road Group — led by Aaron Pickrell, a veteran of President Obama’s
2012 and 2008 campaigns — was paid a total of $120,000 by AFL-CIO headquarters
for state legislative consulting in Ohio.
California-based Partnership for Working Families, a network of “social justice”
advocacy groups, received $124,000 from AFL-CIO to help with a minimum wage hike
campaign.
AFL-CIO sent $30,000 to Action for the Common Good and $60,000 to Center for
Popular Democracy to support minimum wage hike efforts in New York, and it paid
Pennsylvania-based Lemmon Tree Consulting $35,000 for help fighting
right-to-work.
Many of AFL-CIO’s expenditures meant to influence state policy went to
consulting firms in the nation’s capital, making it difficult to determine where
huge swaths of the union coalition’s spending were targeted.
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 The Pivot Group received $1.1 million from AFL-CIO for state
legislative advocacy work; AFL-CIO paid Greenberg Quinlan Rosner
Research $505,200 and Hart Research Associates $309,000 for state
issue polling.
Mack-Sumner Communications in Alexandria, Virginia received
payments from AFL-CIO totaling $873,636 for state issue fliers.
State Innovation Exchange, a “progressive” effort to mirror the
American Legislative Exchange Council, received $50,000 from
AFL-CIO. AFL-CIO gave $210,000 to secretive leftist donor network
Democracy Alliance, plus $25,000 to DA’s Committee on States
project.
AFL-CIO paid $888,565 to NGP VAN and $564,750 to Catalist, a pair of
left-wing consulting firms accused of illegal coordination with
Democratic campaign committees.
A total of $4.1 million in AFL-CIO political expenditures went to
Working America, AFL-CIO’s in-house community organizing operation.
Another $3 million went to the political action committee AFL-CIO
uses to distribute campaign contributions.
Economic Policy Institute, a union think tank whose board of
directors is chaired by Trumka, received $125,000 from AFL-CIO last
year.
Terry Bowman, a United Auto Workers member and president of Union
Conservatives, told Watchdog members of AFL-CIO unions in
right-to-work states should seriously consider exercising their
right to opt out.
“AFL-CIO executives see the world through a very narrow lens,”
Bowman said in an email. “They surround themselves with workers and
politicians who sing their praises, and separate themselves from the
majority of workers who disagree with their political agenda.”
“Spending workers’ money on a far-left, progressive political agenda
rewards those union officials with perks and prestige,” Bowman
added. “The only way to stop their gravy train is for workers to
stand up and exercise their Right to Work freedoms and protections.”
In contrast to the $44.8 million AFL-CIO spent on political
activities and lobbying last year, AFL-CIO spent $29.6 million on
“Representational Activities” — of the $29.6 million, $4.5 million
went to Working America.
AFL-CIO headquarters did not respond to questions about the spending
disclosed in the union coalition’s 2015 report to the Dept. of
Labor.
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