Today, the Center for Union Facts (CUF) released a new report detailing how the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers (SMART) union has spent members’ dues to fund a largely one-sided political advocacy agenda.
“The public and union members deserve to know how the union is spending workers’ dues dollars. 99 percent of SMART’s recent advocacy spending has gone to left-leaning organizations,” said communications director Charlyce Bozzello.
CUF examined the SMART’s LM-2 financial filings from 2019 – 2022 with the Office of Labor and Management Standards (OLMS) to offer a transparent look into the union’s financial priorities and how it spends members’ dues dollars. The full report is available here.
Highlights from the report include:
-
Six million dollars spent on left-leaning advocacy while SMART only directed $15,000 toward bipartisan efforts and $59,636 toward GOP-led initiatives and campaigns;
-
DNC and aligned organization received $2.15 million from SMART;
-
The union sent $150,000 to various efforts to stop the recall of Gavin Newsom.
The report is part of CUF’s ongoing education effort to ensure the public and union members have access to transparent information regarding union spending.
