thetruthaboutefca.com | The Truth About The Employee Free Choice Act & Card Check

OK, by now most of us know the deal: Union officials have poured hundreds of millions of dollars into lobbying and supporting politicians who will cram the horrifyingly misnamed Employee Free Choice Act down America’s throat. One union official even openly declared EFCA was the “payback” Big Labor sought for its investment, even though the issue has become toxic for politicians.

So it’s noteworthy that CQToday reports (behind a password) that “Unions top the list of biggest campaign contributors in first half of 2009″. Consider these facts and figures from the report: In just 6 months Big Labor spent more than $10 million of their members’ money. That is a staggering figure, given that there are just 545 elected officials in the legislative branch.

Those numbers are even more shocking given the industries Big Labor outspent during a time when the legislature and president are haggling over economy-changing bills on health care and energy. Union officials managed to out-cash Health care, finance/insurance, transportation, energy/natural resources, ideological groups, communication/technology, retail/services, defense, real estate/construction, law, and manufacturing.

The spending spree is also telling for where the money’s coming from. Major union groups — including the AFL-CIO and SEIU — have reportedly already spent themselves into deficits or near deficits. That means they are fighting for the whole enchilada on EFCA.

Click here to learn more about Big Labor’s lobbying from OpenSecrets.org.

Katie Packer from the Workplace Fairness Institute writes:

Labor unions themselves concede the passage of EFCA would generate millions of new members with the head of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) projecting 1.5 million new dues-paying union members every year for at least 10 years. If you assume that union members pay, on average, $425 per year in dues, the numbers are staggering: Passage of EFCA would result in $35 billion over the next 10 years, headed straight for union coffers.

Ka-Ching!

Of course, that’s the “benefit” side. The cost comes in lower economic activity, hundreds of thousands (if not millions) of jobs, and basic workplace rights. (What’s the opposite of “Ka-Ching”? “Ching-Ka!”?)

Not hard to understand why union officials — but not union members — are so desperate for passage of the unfortunately misnamed Employee Free Choice Act:

Union bosses have said that EFCA would generate millions of new members. The head of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) projects 1.5 million new dues-paying union members every year for at least 10 years if EFCA is passed.

It’s pretty simple to understand. With more dues-paying members, unions have a lot of money to gain and spend.

A recent estimate of the average union dues among the top 15 unions by Labor Notes suggests that as of 2004, dues amounted to $377 in 2004, or about $425 in today’s dollars. According to the United Auto Workers (UAW), dues for a typical autoworker were $552 as of 2000, or about $682 in today’s dollars. Therefore, assuming membership growth of 1.5 million per year and the lower average dues estimate ($425), enactment of EFCA would increase union receipts by $637,500,000 per year.