Workers deserve truth about where union dues go, says Freedom Foundation CEO

Dallas, TX — Freedom Foundation CEO Aaron Withe today applauded a new Commonwealth Foundation analysis documenting government union political spending, saying it provides further documentation of what both organizations have been exposing: unions operating as partisan political machines while systematically deceiving their own members about where dues money goes.

“The Commonwealth Foundation has done valuable work documenting how government union headquarters spend hundreds of millions in member dues on political activities,” he said. “Reports like this are important for shining a light on where public employees’ money actually goes.”

Withe continued, “The real problem is that unions routinely deceive their own members about this political spending. At the Freedom Foundation, we’re working to educate public employees about the facts and hold unions accountable when they break the law.”

The Freedom Foundation has filed a series of complaints nationwide to force legal accountability:

• In Washington state, Freedom Foundation complaints to state campaign finance authorities resulted in Teamsters Local 117 shutting down its opaque, dues-funded political fund and resulted in a six-figure penalty for the SEIU Washington State Council after it was found to be so focused on partisan politics it was operating as an unregistered political committee.

• Another complaint resulted in thousands of dollars in penalties for AFSCME’s national headquarters for failing to disclose millions of dollars in members’ dues it transferred to a political fund.

• Last year, the Freedom Foundation filed a series of complaints and legal actions against the Pennsylvania State Education Association for allegedly violating state law by laundering nearly $1.5 million in members’ dues to Josh Shapiro’s 2022 gubernatorial campaign through the Democratic Governors Association.

“Workers deserve the truth about where their money goes, and unions should be required to follow the law. We’re going to keep fighting to make sure both of those things happen in each and every state in the country,” Withe concluded.