Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson earlier this week filed a lawsuit against the Washington State Labor Council (WSLC) for concealing more than $130,000 in political donations.
The action is based on a complaint filed last fall by the Freedom Foundation. The AG referred the Foundation’s complaint to the Public Disclosure Commission and, after investigating the charges, the PDC confirmed WSLC has been hiding monetary and in-kind contributions to political committees to further its political agenda.
The PDC recommended the AG take action against WSLC, which he did this week.
Violating the law is par for the course for labor organizations, and WSLC is no different. In fact, WSLC is not even a labor union. It represents no employees and does not engage in collective bargaining.
Rather, it’s an organization comprised of members who are labor unions that pay membership dues to WSLC to further their political agenda. WSLC’s website boasts that “We are more than 600 union locals and councils,” which represent “approximately 400,000 union members.”
In other words, WSLC is a purely political animal, no more than a front for union political activity.
These violations are yet another example of labor organizations attempting to camouflage their political activities to keep the public and their (forced) members in the dark.
WSLC will claim the unreported money was just an oversight, but don’t be fooled. WSLC doesn’t want people to be able to track their political activity on the PDC website by searching for WSLC’s political donations.
This is one way unions and their allies break the law at every turn to push their big government, anti-worker agenda.
The Freedom Foundation’s complaint was similar to those filed last fall against SEIU 775 and SEIU 925, which also led to lawsuits against those unions by the AG for hiding millions of dollars in campaign contributions.
These violations show a pattern of contempt for the public’s right to know who is funding candidates and causes in Washington.
Once again, the Freedom Foundation is holding the state and Big Labor accountable. The AG would have never filed this lawsuit against his friends at WSLC had we not filed a complaint.
Ferguson and his team of assistant AGs have a habit of looking the other way when his political allies and donors break the law. But when politicians look the other way, the Freedom Foundation looks even harder at what’s being hidden from view.
Big Labor’s cavalier “business as usual” attitude toward breaking the law and abusing workers will no longer stand. The Freedom Foundation continues to stand up for workers and fight Big Labor’s unlawful and abusive tactics.
