Presidents of the nation's two largest teachers unions pictured above, Becky Pringle (LEFT) of the National Education Association (NEA), and Randi Weingarten (RIGHT) of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT). (Leigh Vogel/Getty Images for March For Our Lives)
According to the Commonwealth Foundation's report, the findings elucidated that approximately just 25% of the group's total spending – or $642 million – goes toward "representational activities," which the report describes as "the spending category most closely tied to membership support." Meanwhile, the unions' also spent approximately a combined 33% of their total spending – or $845 million – on general overhead, union administration, staff benefits, and other cost categories "linked to basic operations."
But spending on elections and progressive political activism surpassed both those categories. Collectively, the unions spent around $755 million on federal elections and national progressive politics, while their state-level affiliates combined to spend another $160 million on state races and ideological causes. $650 million of that spending, or 86%, stemmed from union membership dues, according to the Commonwealth Foundation.
Meanwhile, the report notes, the unions also collect voluntary Political Action Committee (PAC) deductions from members and their families, which allows the unions to collect money that can then go directly to candidates, something that is not supposed to be done with member's dues money. The union's federal PAC spending accounted for 14% of the group's political spending, according to the report.
Washington, Sept. 1 — Protesters gathered at the D.C. Human Resources office in the Navy Yard neighborhood. (Fox News Digital/Emma Woodhead) (Fox News Digital/Emma Woodhead)
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"Government unions’ heavy use of membership dues money for politics—more than what they collectively spent on representational activities—underlines a disturbing trend: the growing, overt reliance by union officials to spend member dues rather than political action committee funds on their political and ideological agendas," the Commonwealth Foundation says in its new report.
"Yet, much of this spending is possible only because of the lack of accountability and control over what powerful union executives do with members’ dues. Union dues, not the separately collected PAC funds, are the overwhelming power behind—86 percent—of union political spending. Few members are aware that union leaders launder much of their dues through super PACs and 527s to back political projects. Even fewer members can effect change within their union to stop it."
Fox News Digital reached out to the NEA, AFT, SEIU and AFSCME for comment, but did not hear back in time for publication.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/largest-public-sector-unions-spent-eye-popping-amount-left-wing-politics-86-funded-member-dues