Political Spending by Unions Far Exceeds Direct Donations

According to a report in The Wall Street Journal, organized labor spends about four times as much on politics and lobbying as was thought. Previous estimates have focused on labor unions’ filings with federal election officials, which chronicle contributions made directly to federal candidates and union spending in support of candidates for Congress and the White House.

The WSJ analysis found unions spending far more money on a wider range of political activities, including supporting state and local candidates and deploying what has long been seen as the unions’ most potent political weapon: persuading members to vote as unions want them to.

The new figures come from a little-known set of annual reports to the Labor Department in which local unions, their national parents and labor federations have been required to detail their spending on politics and lobbying since 2005.

The top political spender, counting both what is reported to the Labor Department and what is reported to the FEC, was the Service Employees International Union. Unlike most unions, the SEIU has seen its membership grow to 1.9 million last year from 1.5 million in 2005. It reported spending $150 million on politics and lobbying in 2009 and 2010, up from $62 million in 2005 and 2006.

“The growth of SEIU political spending reflects the commitment of SEIU members to knock on doors, make phone calls and voluntarily contribute an average of $7 per month to ensure the voice of working families and the 99% is heard at the ballot box,” said its national political director, Brandon Davis.