Union Spending against Right-to-Work Efforts

According to an Associated Press report, several states are eyeing labor law reforms to end the practice of forcing employees to pay union dues as a condition of employment.

States considering adopting right-to-work legislation include Missouri, Ohio, and Oregon. In those states, right-to-work could be on the statewide ballot as soon as 2014.

At the same time, labor unions are conducting expensive campaigns to sully the reputation of right-to-work laws, in hopes that unions can continue to force workers who do not want union representation to financially support unions.

One tactic unions have deployed in Missouri, Ohio, and Oregon is creating front groups, which conduct ad campaigns and generally disseminate misinformation about right-to-work laws.

Fortunately, Department of Labor records give some insight into how much money unions are spending to defeat right-to-work legislation.

In Ohio, the International Union of Operating Engineers and AFL-CIO headquarters fund Keep Ohio’s Heritage and We Are Ohio. In a Keep Ohio’s Heritage ad, right-to-work is described as a means “to kill unions and worker protections – just like what is done in communist countries.”

In 2012, Keep Ohio’s Heritage received a total of $1,050,000. In 2013, We Are Ohio collected $49,297.

In Oregon, OUR Oregon and We Are Oregon have been vocal critics of the ballot measure that would end forced union dues payments for public-sector workers. SEIU doled out $553,693 to We Are Oregon in 2013. Our Oregon collected a total of $491,022 in 2012 and 2013.

Last, in Missouri, the AFL-CIO has spent $8,616 funding We Are Missouri.