The California Policy Center’s analysis lays it bare: California’s public sector unions collected $921 million in 2018 alone. That’s not campaign contributions—that’s annual revenue. The prize they’re protecting? According to Govern For California, state and local governments spend $240 billion per year on public employee compensation and benefits.
“There is no special interest in California that wields more influence over state and local politics than public sector unions. At every level of government, from the office of the governor to a school board managing a district with only a few hundred students, public sector unions are omnipresent. With rare exceptions, to defy their agenda is certain political suicide.”— Edward Ring, The Financial Power of California’s Government Unions – California Globe (californiaglobe.com)
The California Teachers Association alone has 325,000 members and $356 million in annual revenue. Unlike private sector unions that negotiate with management controlled by shareholders, public sector unions can elect their own management—the politicians who depend on union endorsements. That’s not collective bargaining. That’s a protection racket.