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July 26, 2021
6:28 PM ET
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Labor unions spent around $1.8 billion on “political activities and lobbying” during the 2020 election cycle, a study published last Friday by the National Institute for Labor Relations Research (NILRR) concluded.
The vast majority of funds, more than $1.4 billion, came from the general treasuries of private sector unions while the remaining funds came from public sector unions and union political action committees (PACs), according to the study.
Funds raised by private sector unions are publicly disclosed to the Department of Labor, and researchers compiled all Form LM-2 disclosure reports for the filing years of 2019 and 2020. A significant source of funding comes from union dues and fees collected from workers in states without right-to-work laws who would otherwise be fired for refusing to pay.