Union officials disrespect working men and women

Evergreen Freedom Foundation ^ | 9-3-04 | Michael Reitz

[truth49]

What would you think of an organization that takes money from workers' paychecks without their permission, spends the money on politics that workers may disagree with, ignores state campaign finance laws, and then tells the Internal Revenue Service that it does not spend any money on politics?

Unfortunately, this is not a bad fairy tale; it is a description of what labor officials do to workers in Washington state.

Labor Day is a time to celebrate the hard-working men and woman who have made this country the world's economic powerhouse. The Washington State Labor Council (WSLC), AFL-CIO, says it advocates for many of these workers and purports to be the voice of labor in our state. But do workers really know what their "voice" is up to?

The WSLC ignores campaign finance disclosure laws when it donates hundreds of thousands of dollars to political committees and parties. When employees object to union politicking and opt out of union membership, they face subtle retribution, and many are denied the right to ratify their own employment contracts.

Furthermore, Washington state law prohibits the use of public funds to influence elections. The WSLC is the recipient of millions of dollars in state and federal funds. Without proper disclosure, as the law mandates, it is impossible to verify whether the WSLC is using public funds to influence elections.

Washington voters approved a law in 1992 to reduce the influence of large special interests on our state elections by setting campaign contribution limits. Organizations and their subsidiaries share contribution limits to prevent the umbrella organization from dumping large amounts of money into elections, but this is exactly what the WSLC and its affiliated unions do, using union dues to support political candidates from many unwilling workers.

[vpintheak]

Unions are a scourge upon a free society. Maybe once upon a time they had a valid reason for existing, now they are part of the problem, and a large reason why many jobs are being exported out of the US.