California’s Billion-Dollar Union Machine
Christopher F. Rufo, Kenneth Schrupp:
California will not stop taxing its citizens. The state slapsa 63-cent fee on every gallon of gas. Sales taxes exceed10 percent in some cities. The state’s highest earners pay a double-digit marginal rate to Sacramento on top of what they owe the feds.
One group, more than any other, has cashed in on this arrangement: California’s public-sector unions. For them, higher taxes are good business. More taxes means more state workers, which means more union members, more dues, and more power for union bosses. The union bosses, in turn, keep the dollars flowing, agitating for more tax hikes, more spending, and more state workers.
How powerful are California’s public-sector unions? We pored over disclosure forms and crunched the numbers. It turns out that, in the calendar or fiscal year ending in 2024, ten of the largest California-based unions with public-sector members collected more than $1 billion in dues and fees.
Many of these unions spend at least some of their revenues on lobbying. State politicians, playing their part in the scheme, devote more taxpayer resources to the public sector, inching California toward the kind of soft socialism that its leaders have long desired—no armed revolution necessary.
This is California’s billion-dollar union machine.
Unions exist to represent their members’ interests. In the private sector, unions negotiate against a corporation, whose executives have skin in the game. In the public sector, by contrast, unions negotiate against the state, which is spending other people’s money. In California, public-sector unions have exploited this dynamic to create a feedback loop that has made them the most powerful machine in state politics.
We focused on ten of the largest California-based unions with public-sector members. Our list features key players in the state’s labor movement: the California Teachers Association (CTA); the California Nurses Association (CNA); the California School Employees Association (CSEA); and various International Union of Operating Engineers, SEIU, and AFSCME chapters. These groups raked in more than $1 billion in the calendar or fiscal year ending in 2024—and show little sign of slowing down.
Their size is astounding. The ten unions have more than 1 million members. They list more than 1,500 employees and officers who administer the unions, organize the workers, and more. The unions’ combined membership equates to at least 6 percent of the state’s 2024 presidential-election voters and at least 29 percent of the state’s 2024 Democratic primary voters—more than enough to sway a statewide contest.
Those members pay annual dues. Some of the unions, in turn, send money to Democrats. The successful campaign of the current assembly Speaker, Democrat Robert Rivas, received funds from the political-action arms of CNA and CSEA. California’s eight statewide officials—all Democrats—received a campaign donation from at least one of the ten unions’ PACs at some point in their careers.
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Wisconsin Act 10
