PSEA Admits Using Dues for Politics

The Pennsylvania State Education Association admitted using union members’ dues, via a “SuperPAC,” to fund an election mailer supporting Governor-Elect Wolf, following a public apology last month for the mailer’s content. The PSEA also admitted to using its dues-funded magazine to support candidates for office.

The PSEA responded to the charge filed with the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board in November by PSEA member Mary Trometter and the Fairness Center, confirming that the union used members’ dues money to fund the election mailer that Trometter found offensive and demeaning.

The PSEA attempts to justify its action by citing the case of Citizens United v. FEC. Their hypocrisy is rich, though, as union leaders from both the NEA and PSEA often criticize this case.

This again reiterates why public resources should never be used for politics.

New legislation named “Mary’s Law” will soon will soon be introduced in the Pennsylvania House and Senate.  This bill, also known as paycheck protection, would end the taxpayer-funded collection of political money. Mary’s law would require union leaders to collect political money directly from members, and be more accountable to teachers like Mary.

Click here to send an email to your lawmakers to support Mary’s Law.

For more information about this topic, visit our Paycheck Protection toolkit