Here are two statistics that most labor groups will not be sharing as they push their Labor Day propaganda—11 percent and $700 million. Though union membership, especially in the private sector, has been declining as the costs of joining have become clearer, political contributions from unions have been moving in the opposite direction.
Unions are using less of their members’ hard-earned dues for representational activities, and more to fund politicians’ campaigns. It is questionable what return union members are receiving on their dues, which increasingly go towards political activity, almost exclusively to Democratic candidates. Perhaps if dues went to benefit current workers, instead of politicians, retirees, and union bosses, unionization rates would not be falling so quickly.
Source: National Institute on Money in State Politics, "Labor Contributions to Candidates and Committees," 2013.
Note: Contributions adjusted to constant 2014 $USD with CPI inflation calculator.
The graph above tracks total union membership rates and union political contributions at local, state, and federal levels. Something is clearly wrong when the two trends are moving in opposite directions.
While unionization rates have fallen from 16 percent in 1990 to below 11 percent today (now 7 percent for private sector workers and 35 percent for public sector workers), total political spending in constant dollars is nearly 80 times higher. During the 2012 federal election cycle total political spending by unions totaled $711 million. Spending on federal elections from unions was an inflation-adjusted $9 million during the 1990 cycle.
Unions are spending on politics, but not on their members. Many multiemployer pension plans, negotiated by unions for their members, are failing. A 2013 study by the U.S. Government Accountability Office concluded that “a number of plans, including some very large plans, are facing very severe financial difficulties. Many of these plans reported that no realistic combination of contribution increases or allowable benefit reductions—options available under current law to address their financial condition—will enable them to emerge from critical status.”
When unions use dues for political contributions rather than for activities that benefit their members, such as representation and benefits, workers see little need to join. The failed campaign by the United Auto Workers to organize the Volkswagen plant in Tennessee is a case in point. Volkswagen employees saw no need to pay dues to fund UAW retirees in Detroit. As workers around the country get less value for their dues, the UAW’s experience will no doubt be repeated in other workplaces.
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