Pennsylvania Government Union Dues Used for Politics

Pennsylvania’s government unions use taxpayer-funded payroll systems to collect their political money. This includes not only Political Action Committee (PAC) contributions, but membership dues earmarked for politics. Since 2007, Pennsylvania government unions spent $62.7 million from membership dues on “Political Activities & Lobbying.” Including national affiliates the total reaches $342 million during the 2016 election cycle alone. Here are a few examples of dues-funded government union political spending.[1]

Political communications, endorsements, mailers & advertisements funded by union dues

A PSEA endorsement mailer from the 2016 election.
Pennsylvania AFL-CIO conducted a “Ground Game for Labor 2016 Campaign” with over 500,000 mailers, including this Katie McGinty endorsement.
A sample email from SEIU 668, urging members to contact their legislators and pass Gov. Tom Wolf’s budget.
A 2014 mailer from AFT-PA endorsing Tom Wolf.
PSEA sent a 2012 political endorsement to union members.
UFCW’s anti-liquor privatization TV ad claiming privatization will kill Pennsylvanians. Additional ads from 2011 include: UFCW radio ads attacking Representative Mike Turzai and UFCW TV ads attacking Senators Browne and Mensch.

Fundraising for PAC contributions

Donate to PACE or join the “Tom Corbett Fan Club” (pages 15-18).

Direct contributions to political organizations and SuperPACs that advocate for or against issues and politicians[2]

“Philadelphians for a Fair Future” received $50,000 to advocate for the Philadelphia Soda Tax.
The National Public Pension Coalition, which ran social media ads attacking House Republicans, received $160,000 from government unions.
America Works USA, an affiliated of the Democratic Governor’ Association, launched radio and TV ads attacking Republicans to build support for Gov. Tom Wolf’s 2015 budget proposal. America Works received $1.8 million in dues from AFSCME, AFSCME 13, NEA, and SEIU local affiliates, while DGA received an additional $2.2 million from AFSCME, AFT, and UFCW 1776.
SuperPAC “Pennsylvanian’s for Judicial Reform” ran ads targeting 2015 Supreme Court judicial candidates with the aid of $675,000 from AFSCME and SEIU State Leadership Council.
NEA- and SEIU-funded “Pennsylvanians for Accountability” spent $1 million on ads attacking Governor Corbett.

[1] Source: “Form LM-2 Labor Organization Annual Reports,” Office of Labor-Management Standards. Pennsylvania unions include AFSCME 13, AFT-PA, PSEA, SEIU locals, and UFCW 1776. Many state and local unions are not required to file Form LM-2, thus excluding their dues-funded political spending from this total.

[2] Examples include funding from Pennsylvania government unions and national affiliates.