logo
    • Magazine
    • Membership
    • Donate
  • Racial Justice
  • Economic Justice
    • Collections
  • Climate Justice
  • Health Justice
  • Leadership
  • CONTENT TYPES
  • Subscribe
  • Webinars
    • Upcoming Webinars
    • Complimentary Webinars
    • Premium On-Demand Webinars
  • Membership
  • Submissions

New York’s Unions on the Fence about Campaign Finance Reform

Carole Levine
May 1, 2019
Share
Tweet
Share
Email
Print
Andrea_44 from Leamington, Ontario , Canada [CC BY 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons

April 29, 2019; New York Times

When it comes to issues of campaign finance reform, most will expect liberal-leaning groups to favor reform. But that premise ran into a brick wall this week in the state of New York—a wall called “organized unions”—and it might do so elsewhere.

A New York legislative proposal includes in its text some modifications to the public financing of campaigns, and it looked to have the kind of widespread Democratic support that ensure passage. However, the bill was stopped before it was introduced by a short statement from Mario Cilento, the president of New York’s AFL-CIO, saying, “Now is not the time.” As Vivian Wang and J. David Goodman write for the New York Times,

The last-minute opposition helped derail a push to introduce a small-donor matching system to state candidates; lawmakers ultimately agreed to allow a nine-member commission to decide later on a framework for public financing.

It also shocked some progressive activists and Democratic elected officials, many of whom have deeply forged alliances with big labor. But while unions are typically among the staunchest of Democratic allies, they also happen to be some of the biggest money players in New York politics.

The political power of unions in New York is clear. The money and contributions they bring to political campaigns at every level—local, state and national—should not be underestimated, even as their membership shrinks. In 2014, 14 of the 25 largest campaign donors were unions. But the times are changing:

Sign up for our free newsletters

Subscribe to NPQ's newsletters to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

By signing up, you agree to our privacy policy and terms of use, and to receive messages from NPQ and our partners.

The labor sector has experienced decreasing political power in recent years. The past generation has been marked by a changing economy, a pattern of deregulation and decreasing union membership. In 2017, only 10.7 percent of workers belonged to unions compared to 20.1 percent in 1983.

Total labor sector campaign contributions…peaked during the 2016 election cycle, when groups and individuals poured more than $217 million into races nationwide. Almost 90 percent of those contributions went to Democrats, which is consistent with at least two decades of labor contribution trends.

So, what does this mean for New York, a stronghold for both labor unions and Democrats? Clearly, the unions hold enough clout to delay action on a bill that might lessen their influence. However, there’s no unanimity among the state’s various unions around public funding for campaigns. Both the United Federation of Teachers in New York City and the New York City District Council of Carpenters indicated in statements they didn’t support public financing for political campaigns. But the union representing janitors, doormen, and airport workers, as well as the New York arm of the Communication Workers of America, backs the effort fully.

What’s at stake? For one thing, there is a cost in losing the political clout for unions that comes with campaign contributions. On the other hand, there is the cost, and it is not small, of financing public support for political campaigns, estimated at $100 million for the state of New York. Then, there’s the question of just who these union donors represent. Are they corporations and representatives of big business? Or do they stand in for individual dues-paying union members and act more like constituents? For the politician who receives the campaign donation, will this make a difference in their vote on campaign finance reform?

The can has been kicked down the road for now, but it is sure to come back. And that might be a risky thing for both politicians and unions. As the words of the Woody Guthrie song say, “Oh, you can’t scare me, I’m sticking with the union.” We will see if this still holds true.—Carole Levine

Share
Tweet
Share
Email
Print
About the author
Carole Levine

Carole Levine is a principal consultant at Levine Partners, providing consulting services to small and medium-sized nonprofit organizations. She has held senior management positions in four national nonprofits: The National PTA (Deputy Executive Director); Communities in Schools (Vice President of Expansion and Technical Assistance); The Family Resource Coalition (Director of Technical Assistance); and National Lekotek Center (Director of Development). Carole holds a BA in education and political science from Washington University, and an M.Ed. in Early Childhood Leadership and Advocacy from National Louis University. Carole has served on the boards of numerous organizations, holding national positions on the board of National Council of Jewish Women and on the International Council of Jewish Women. She is currently the Chair of Courts Matter Illinois, serves on the board of Chicago Women Take Action and is active on the Promote the Vote Illinois Coalition. Carole is passionate about purposeful work, justice for all, advocacy and her family (which includes 6 amazing grandchildren!).

More about: campaign financeLaborNonprofit NewsPolicy

Become a member

Support independent journalism and knowledge creation for civil society. Become a member of Nonprofit Quarterly.

Members receive unlimited access to our archived and upcoming digital content. NPQ is the leading journal in the nonprofit sector written by social change experts. Gain access to our exclusive library of online courses led by thought leaders and educators providing contextualized information to help nonprofit practitioners make sense of changing conditions and improve infra-structure in their organizations.

Join Today
logo logo logo logo logo
See comments

Spring-2023-sidebar-subscribe
You might also like
Activists Gather to Advance Solidarity Economy Organizing
Steve Dubb
Undocumented and Unprotected: How Immigration Status Amplifies Climate Vulnerability
Morgan Florsheim
America’s Broken Safety Net—and How to Address It: An Interview with Alissa Quart
Steve Dubb and Alissa Quart
Solidarity on Campus: A Faculty Union’s Learnings from COVID-19
Todd Wolfson
Finding Power in Community: Lessons from the Chicago Teachers’ Union
Sheri Davis
Profit at What Cost? An Interview with Ray Suarez, host of Going for Broke
Steve Dubb and Rithika Ramamurthy

NPQ Webinars

June 14th, 2:00pm ET

Remaking the Economy

Race for Profit

Register Now
June 22nd, 12:30 pm ET

Making Co-CEOs Work

Insights from Leaders Sharing Leadership Successfully

Register Now
July 12th, 2:00 pm ET

Remaking the Economy

Tenant Organizing in Unexpected Places

Register Now
You might also like
Three people who are arranged in a triangle and holding each others' arms in solidarity.
Activists Gather to Advance Solidarity Economy Organizing
Steve Dubb
A hispanic man with tattoos and a black hoodie, wearing glasses and sitting on his porch. He is looking into the camera.
Undocumented and Unprotected: How Immigration Status...
Morgan Florsheim
A pile of books, called "Boostrapped: Liberating ourselves from the American dream" by Alissa Quart
America’s Broken Safety Net—and How to Address It: An...
Steve Dubb and Alissa Quart

Like what you see?

Subscribe to the NPQ newsletter to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

See our newsletters

By signing up, you agree to our privacy policy and terms of use, and to receive messages from NPQ and our partners.

NPQ-Spring-2023-cover

Independent & in your mailbox.

Subscribe today and get a full year of NPQ for just $59.

subscribe
  • About
  • Contact
  • Advertise
  • Copyright
  • Careers

We are using cookies to give you the best experience on our website.

 

Non Profit News | Nonprofit Quarterly
Powered by  GDPR Cookie Compliance
Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.

Strictly Necessary Cookies

Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.

If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.