Do you ever wonder why there’s such skepticism about Big Labor’s support of legislation that attacks workers’ ballot privacy, not to mention Big Labor’s opposition to legislation that gives workers more freedom over their earnings?
Underreported news like this from the Alliance for Worker Freedom (AWF) would give a satisfactory answer. Here’s the letter from AWF to the Internal Revenue Service:
On behalf of the Alliance for Worker Freedom (AWF), and rank-and-file working Americans, I urge you to investigate the apparent incongruence contained within the 2005-2006 tax filings by the AFL-CIO.
According to their annual LM-2 financial disclosure form filed with the Department of Labor, the AFL-CIO spent $41,620,583 on political activities in 2006.
However, on the AFL-CIO’s Form-990 for July 1, 2005 – June 30, 2006, they report spending zero dollars ($0.00) on direct or indirect political expenditures.
If the AFL-CIO did not pay taxes on all or part of the $41,620,583 reported to the Department of Labor as political expenditures, then it can be assumed that they owe the IRS (and the American public) upwards of $14,000,000.
With the recent budget cut from the only government agency responsible for monitoring union financial activity (the Office of Labor Management Standards), every effort should be taken to ensure that rank-and-file union workers dues are not being mismanaged or misreported.
Tax evasion? Corruption? Misuse of workers’ funds? It’s not just the AFL-CIO that faces such scrutiny. For years, the National Education Association (NEA) has been under investigation for claiming zero dollars in political expenditures to the IRS while spending countless millions on political activities.
For the sake of fair elections and a level playing field, Big Labor should stop getting a pass.
It’s not being spent on political activities if it’s under the table, right?