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Democrats and many in the media routinely complain about money spent in politics, and they regularly lash out at conservatives and big business. Turns out, unions are the top spenders in politics. Twelve of the top 20 political donors from 1989 to 2014 have been unions, which overwhelmingly support Democratic causes, according to an analysis done by OpenSecrets.org's Center for Responsive Politics. Seven of the top 10 donors overall give almost exclusively to politicians or groups on the left. ActBlue, a political action committee that raises money for Democrats and progressive causes and features Michigan Democratic gubernatorial candidate Mark Schauer...

SEIU and other labor unions can accompany the government inspectors on site visits due to a quiet and contested Obama administration rule clarification issued last year in response to a request from a union representative. Maurice Baskin, an attorney representing the Associated Builders and Contractors and the National Association of Manufacturers, said in testimony before the House Subcommittee on Workforce Protections that OSHA’s clarification letter violates the OSH Act and the National Labor Relations Act. Section 9 of the National Labor Relations Act holds that an “authorized representative” must be an agent from a union that a majority of the...

The Service Employees International Union, the labor group behind the home health care dues skim, has been fined $199,000 for concealing that it bankrolled Proposal 4 in 2012, which would have locked a forced unionization scheme into the state constitution. The fine for campaign finance violations is the second-largest ever levied in Michigan, according to a press release from the secretary of state's office. Between 2006 and when the dues skim finally ended in early 2013, the SEIU took more than $34 million from home-based caregivers, most of whom were taking care of family and friends. Secretary of State Ruth...

The Service Employees International Union will have to pay the second-highest fine in Michigan history for its failed 2012 campaign to preserve forced union dues among home care workers. Michigan Secretary of State Ruth Johnson said that the politically powerful union agreed to pay the state nearly $200,000 for failing to properly disclose donors and file timely campaign reports. The union funneled more than $9 million into two 501(c)(4) non-profit groups, Home Care First Inc. and Citizens for Affordable Quality Home Care, which served as the public face of a ballot initiative. “These organizations cannot be used as a means...

Gov. Scott Walker’s public sector collective bargaining reforms of 2011 have not prevented union officials from making hefty six-figure salaries even as some of their organizations struggle to retain members. A review of U.S. Department of Labor filings shows that at least 159 union officials in Wisconsin made six-figure salaries in fiscal year 2012. ... The SEIU has used its political clout to recently push for a minimum wage hike for some Milwaukee County employees and government contractors. While decrying the current minimum wage, the SEIU conveniently lobbied for a carve-out that exempted employers from the requirement if they joined...

LANSING -- The Service Employees International Union will pay almost $200,000 to settle alleged campaign finance violations from a failed 2012 ballot proposal seeking collective bargaining rights for home health workers. The settlement was announced Monday by Secretary of State Ruth Johnson, whose office investigated a complaint that the union skirted campaign finance laws. The complaint was filed by political advocacy group Michigan Freedom Fund The complaint accused the principals behind Home Care First and Citizens for Affordable Quality Home Care of intentionally delaying required filings with Johnson's office to conceal that SEIU had made substantial contributions to support the...

Bill Clinton accepted a $225,000 speaking fee from the nonprofit Washington Hospital Center smack in the middle of two big rounds of layoffs in 2012 — one of a number of tax-exempt organizations that have paid big money to hear the former president talk. The $225,000 payment wasn’t made public by the hospital on its annual Internal Revenue Service forms, but rather appeared among dozens of lucrative speeches by Mr. Clinton reported on his wife’s final ethics filing as secretary of state. “No disrespect to Bill Clinton, but that money could’ve gone a long way and been put to better...

PITTSBURGH--An estimated 300 workers and bused-in labor activists tied up Pittsburgh traffic when they marched downtown to rally outside the corporate offices of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Monday's rally follows demonstrations outside the same building last week when police cited nine demonstrators for trespassing. The activists from the Service Employees International Union, which is trying to organize some of the hospital network's workers, and others were also pressing for higher wages for cooks, custodians and other blue-collar health workers.

Connecticut's US senator, Richard Blumenthal, and a congress-person, Rosa DeLauro, have been subpoenaed in a case alleging that the SEIU's pressure tactics on nursing home managements during labor disputes amounted to unlawful extortion. Neither politician has been accused of any wrongdoing, but unless a judge grants a delay, both will be forced to produce any documents in their possession pertaining to the SEIU. Other Connecticut politicians will be subject to depositions, including Connecticut Gov. Dan Malloy, state Attorney General George Jepson, andConnecticut state senators John Fonfara and Russ Morin. All are Democrats. Again, none of the politicians has been accused...

U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., and Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., have been pulled into a lawsuit between two local chapters of the Service Employees International Union, which represent health care workers, and nursing homes. At issue is whether a campaign to pressure the management of the nursing homes during labor disputes crossed the line into extortion. ... both lawmakers are now in the uncomfortable situation of being deposed by lawyers representing the nursing homes and are forced to provide a wide array of documents relating to their interactions with the SEIU. The subpoenas, obtained by the Washington Examiner, require them...

HOUSTON, TX – The nation’s leading labor union will plan to spend $300 million in 2014 trying to unseat Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker and four other Republican Governors. More: AFL-CIO to Target Walker, Other Governors People’s World reported that the AFL-CIO announced on Thursday morning during a press conference in Houston that they would spend money trying to unseat Governor Walker. Other Governors that the labor organization is targeting are John Kasich (R-Ohio), Tom Corbett (R-Pennsylvania), Rick Snyder (R-Michigan), and Rick Scott (R-Florida). The American Federation of Teachers backed the AFL-CIO’s plan. President Randi Weingarten said: “In many ways it...

Nice job ya got there So the union's leaders have come up with a backdoor way to force employees to fork over the dues money. It's a novel variation on the Living Wage/Minimum Wage campaign. Here's how it works: Milwaukee County officials approved a living wage requirement for local government contractors to pay at least $11.33 per hour. SEIU's Wisconsin Jobs Now campaign was the main backer of the requirement. But the new law includes a convenient way for contractors to avoid having to pay the living wage — they can agree to force their employees to join SEIU.

A California Democrat is looking to extend taxpayer-funded health-care benefits to illegal immigrants. State Sen. Ricardo Lara of Long Beach introduced legislation late last week that would extend health-care coverage to all Californians “irrespective of immigration status.” “The purpose of the Health For All Act is simple — provide health care coverage to California’s remaining uninsured by expanding Medi-Cal and creating a new health exchange where the undocumented can purchase coverage,” Lara said in a statement. Lara added that the fact that Obamacare expressly denies illegal immigrants coverage “hurts the overall health of our communities, and does not reflect California...

(Ballot) Initiative No. 39 seeks to limit nonprofit hospital executive compensation to 15 times the annual wage of the lowest paid employee. Current law sets no cap on compensation, but rather, it is considered reasonable if it is comparable to similarly situated executives, even those at for profit health organizations, according to a summary of the measure. The measure would limit the share the hospital may contribute when the compensation is paid by a parent corporation, health system or combination. It requires annual public reports and authorizes civil penalties for violation.

Pres. Obama headed to Milwaukee after State of Union address January 26, 2014, by Mike Lowe, Pres. Obama headed to Milwaukee after State of Union address MILWAUKEE (WITI) — President Barack Obama is set to deliver his State of the Union address this week. According to the White House, the speech will be optimistic and focus on the middle class. After the speech, President Obama will take his message on the road to four places — one of which is Milwaukee. This is not the first time President Obama has used his big speech to put the spotlight on Wisconsin....

Image of the "Fast for Families" fasters, who announced their new plans to push for immigration reform on Monday. After going without food and only drinking water for 22 days last, a handful of advocates with the “Fast for Families” campaign ended their fast on December 3, 2013. Now they are continuing their efforts to push for immigration reform with a national tour that kicked off on Monday. Activists with the “Fast for Families” campaign captivated national and international attention last year when they put their bodies on the line to fast in support of immigration reform with a path...

Minimum-wage increase proposals are getting the maximum push from Democrats in statehouses in more than half of U.S. states, highlighting the politically potent income inequality issue this year. Lawmakers in at least 30 states are sponsoring or are expected to introduce wage hike measures, according to a national review by The Associated Press. They hope to notch state-level victories as President Barack Obama and congressional Democrats remain stymied in attempts to raise the federal minimum wage above $7.25 an hour. The president is expected to mention the minimum wage in his State of the Union address Tuesday.Even in Republican-dominated capitals...

The Supreme Court has taken on an interesting case and it's decision can have massive ramifications for unions nationwide. The issue is whether unions can coerce workers to pay dues even if the disagree with the union. The case was brought by a group of home health care workers who were forced to join a union in Illinois as they receive money to take care of family members through Medicaid. The SEIU persuaded Illinois that these families who were taking care of family members at their homes who are in need of assistance, say of someone who is developmentally disabled,...

Labor Law: The Supreme Court heard oral arguments Tuesday in a case that will determine if a Medicaid recipient caring for her child is a state worker required to turn part of her meager resources over to union bosses. Illinois resident Pam Harris is a 55-year-old mom earning less than the minimum wage who cares for her son Josh Harris, 25. He has Rubinstein-Taybi syndrome, a muscular degenerative disease, compounded by physical disabilities and mental illness. Josh and his family qualify for an Illinois home-based support-services program that lets disabled adults live at home. He gets $721 each month from...

Should the nation’s minimum wage be raised, as Democrats from President Obama on down are insisting? “Well, jobs are a great thing,” Microsoft founder and philanthropist Bill Gates told MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” on Tuesday. “So you have to be a bit careful: If you raise the minimum wage, you’re encouraging labor substitution, and you’re going to go buy machines and automate things—or cause jobs to appear outside of that jurisdiction. “And so within certain limits, you know, it does cause job destruction. If you really start pushing it, then you’re just making a huge tradeoff.” …