Labor Unions Adopt Tactics They Once Criticized to Lobby for Living Wage Laws

• October 4, 2014

MADISON, Wis.—Stand Up to ALEC and other affiliated left-leaning groups have spent years attacking the American Legislative Exchange Council for bringing together lawmakers and private-sector representatives to draft model state-level legislation. But those same groups have voiced no complaints when labor unions do the same.

A number of “living wage” laws being passed across the country—including the one in Milwaukee County—have been heavily influenced by labor unions and are designed to generate revenue for unions through provisions that exempt companies from paying the increased wages if they force full unionization.

“I think it’s very rich for the unions to criticize people for doing the exact same things they do,” said James Sherk, a senior policy analyst in labor economics for The Heritage Foundation.

Jane Carter, a labor economist with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, said what unions are doing is different because corporations associated with ALEC are spending tens of thousands of dollars behind closed doors on bills that benefit the rich and hurt economic growth and the middle class.

But Milwaukee County’s living wage law is expected to cost taxpayers almost $30 million by the end of 2019 and possibly shut down the Milwaukee County Department of Family Care, according to a fiscal analysis by the county’s nonpartisan comptroller’s office. The ordinance was written by Service Employees International Union officials and County Supervisor David Bowen, who has received numerous campaign contributions and political endorsements from SEIU agencies and individuals.

SEIU Healthcare Wisconsin could gain an additional $300,000 a year from Supportive Homecare Options alone if that firm obligates its employees to join the union. But its workers would make less because they would keep the same wages but have to pay union dues and initiation fees.

Paid membership in ALEC, a nonprofit organization in which state legislators and private business representatives work together on legislation to advance the fundamental principles of free-market and limited government, is voluntary.

Not so with unions.

“If workers don’t want to support the union agenda, they shouldn’t be required to pay $500 to $1,000 a year in order to have their money then get turned around and spent promoting left-wing causes that, in many cases, the workers may not agree with,” Sherk said.

About half the states allow public-sector union contracts to require mandatory dues as a condition of employment.

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