Unions have been quick to condemn the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2018 ruling in Janus v. AFSCME and discount the Freedom Foundation’s tireless work to ensure it’s enforced.
Helpfully, though, some of these unions are required by the U.S. Department of Labor to file a yearly report (LM-2) that documents not only their spending but also their membership numbers.
Recently, in fact, AFSCME Council 75’s LM-2 went up on the Department of Labor’s website and showcased just about everything you would expect it would.
For example, the union’s membership is down 12 percent from the previous year, and the Janus decision only took place six months prior to report being released.
Another number to note is the money received from AFSCME International. Typically, public-sector unions in states where Democrats hold legislative power, like all three on the west coast, send large sums of money to the national headquarters to be disbursed to affiliates in states with less influence.
Feeling the tremors from the Janus decision, however, AFSCME Council 75 this year received more funds from the International Headquarters than it disbursed. Little wonder AFSCME President Lee Saunders feels so threatened by the Freedom Foundation.
But as always, instead of allocating funds to better represent its members, AFSCME followed other failing unions like SEIU 503 and doubled down on political spending.
In 2018 alone, Council 75 spent more than $2.2 million of dues dollars on politics and lobbying.
These expenditures are clearly listed on the union’s report showing dues being spent around the state on various liberal politicians, as well as over more than $750,000 handed over to Defend Oregon, a coalition dedicated to opposing conservative measures.
Defend Oregon wasn’t the only progressive coalition to have working Oregonians’ money siphoned into its coffers. Our Oregon, another liberal front group, collected more than $250,000 from Council 75 last year.
Despite the pinch Council 75 as a whole is feeling post-Janus, its staff is doing just fine. Twenty-five of its employees are paid six-figure salaries, including Executive Director Stacy Chamberlain, who makes just under $150,000 a year.
So much for being for the middle class.
AFSCME Council 75 is another shining example of union hypocrisy claiming to fight for Oregon workers, but instead just spending those same workers’ paychecks to fuel its leaders’ progressive agenda.
