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 The American Federation of State, County and Municipal
Employees Council 31 spent more than $7.7 million on politics during a four-year
period, but how more than half of that money was consumed remains a mystery to
union members.
Federal reporting documents show Council 31 used that amount for political
activities and lobbying from 2013 to 2017. But lax reporting requirements allow
the union to hide the full array of its political spending.
Much of the money funds political activities and lobbying performed by union
officers and employees, but union leaders aren’t required to list what those
political or lobbying efforts were. More than $4.2 million of the $7.7 million
the union spent on politics between 2013 and 2017 paid for political activities
performed by union officers and staff, in addition to other non-itemized
disbursements.
In other words, more than half of Council 31’s political expenses during the
past five years remain completely unknown.
The union claims to represent 75,000 government workers, of which about 40,000
are Illinois state workers. Members have diverse political views, but little
information and no choice regarding how their union’s political agenda impacts
those views. Often state workers have no information about what activities
they’re funding.
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What’s worse, Council 31 leaders have been
deceptive at best in explaining the union’s political activity to
members. AFSCME literature distributed to union members often makes
the claim that “no one is required to join or pay any fees that fund
political activities.” But that phrasing is disingenuously vague.
While it’s true no worker is required to join a union, those who do
are indeed forced to fund political activities, a fact made unclear
in many AFSCME handouts.
Moreover, the union’s federal filings only document
a portion of Council 31’s political spending. Filings with the
Illinois State Board of Elections reveal Council 31’s PAC spent more
than $6.8 million on political causes and candidates in Illinois
between 2013 and 2017. The degree to which the union spends money
electioneering often reflects prominently in the General Assembly:
In 2017, 104 of 177 state lawmakers – or nearly 3 in 5 – had
received money from Council 31’s PAC.
Much of members’ dues money does not stay in the hands of the local
leaders they may trust. Member dues also flow to AFSCME
headquarters, which federal reporting documents reveal spent more
than $205 million from 2013 to 2017 on political activities and
lobbying across the country. Because all members of Council 31 are
by extension members of AFSCME headquarters, a portion of their dues
is directed to the union at the national level and, therefore, to
the political causes the headquarters supports.
Local union members have no say in the spending patterns of AFSCME
headquarters, and indeed, the union-funded organizations that many
members may oppose.
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