OPINION:
Something stinks at the United Auto Workers (UAW). This time, it smells like it’s coming from the union’s “flower-funds.”
The UAW is no stranger to federal investigations — a recent probe found three former high-ranking union officials guilty of fraud and embezzlement. But the latest investigation into funds set up to provide flowers at the funerals of auto workers might be the last straw for workers. Though it sounds like a harmless idea, a closer look at these so-called flower funds reveals their darker side — funneling union member money into the pockets of union bosses.
Investigators have reason to believe UAW leaders threatened to demote union office staff back to the assembly line if they refused to contribute money to these flower funds. If a staff member did choose to “donate,” they had no control over the fund, which was looked after by union presidents, vice presidents and regional directors.
The Detroit News recently reported that former Operating Engineers Local 324 head John Hamilton was sentenced to two years in federal prison following an investigation involving a similar fund. Hamilton was accused of coercing and intimidating dozens of union officials into each giving him $5,200 annually for a fund that was supposed to bankroll union re-election efforts.
“In practice, however, the slate fund was a slush fund, where Hamilton used portions of the money for his own personal expenses,” Assistant U.S. Attorneys David Gardey and Dawn Ison wrote in a sentencing memo. Union officials “knew that if they refused to pay into the fund, Hamilton would immediately terminate them.”
Unfortunately, our woefully out-of-date labor laws allow for this type of “flower-fund” corruption to flourish. Under current law, non-union employees are vulnerable to phony election procedures worthy of North Korea or Cuba. These forced votes for or against a union are done publicly. This means union officials can avoid fair and anonymous elections, relying instead on intimidation to gain more dues payers.
In fact, about 40 percent of union certifications bypass the secret ballot election, even though over 80 percent of union households support having a secret ballot. Additionally, once a union is in power, it’s almost impossible for it to be decertified, even if it fails to serve the best interests of workers.
Unions are also allowed to wield an inordinate amount of political influence, funded mainly by workers’ union dues. Unions automatically deduct these dues from employees’ paychecks, and then use them to support whichever political causes best align with union leaders’ personal interests. It’s a vicious cycle, but there’s hope for workers looking to break it.
Last week, Rep. Phil Roe, Tennessee Republican, re-introduced the Employee Rights Act (ERA) of 2019. The bill — which boasted more than 180 co-signers during the last Congress — would create protections not just for UAW workers, but for 7.6 million private-sector union members. The ERA would guarantee secret ballot elections as well as periodic votes on whether or not to recertify a union.
It also would mitigate the political power of private-sector unions by making dues payments used for political purposes an opt-in choice, not a requirement with the option to attempt getting a refund. This is especially necessary given Big Labor’s notoriously lopsided political spending. Between 2010 and 2017, unions gave more than $1.3 billion — or 99 percent of their total political spending — to liberal groups and causes. This money supports the political bias of various union officials without regard for the 40 percent of union households that are conservative and vote Republican in any given election.
Democratic politicians can usually be found supporting more unionization in the country. They despair that less than 7 percent of the non-government workforce are union members. As various scandals and breeches of trust appear every year (coupled with failing union pension plans), these lawmakers should understand the reason for their discontent.
It’s time Congress chose to listen to the over 70 percent of Americans who support bringing transparency and accountability to today’s labor movement through the ERA’s provisions.
• Richard Berman is the president of Berman and Co., a public relations firm in Washington, D.C.
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