Another WA SEIU Labor Union Busted by Attorney General

For the second  time in less than a week, another WA local branch of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) has been hit with a sizable fine by the Washington State Attorney General, for the same issues.

First, SEIU Local 775 was given a $40,000 fine for failure to properly reveal and document campaign contributions and other political related financial dealings.

Now, Monday, SEIU Local 975 has been fined just over $31,000 for the same failures. The Freedom Foundation, a Washington-state based political think tank group who champion conservative causes, has been digging through the often murky waters of many of these union activities, and has found they've been playing fast and loose with rules in many cases.

As for Local 775, their failure to properly disclose and reveal nearly $2.3 million in contributions and political activity dated back at least five years.

As for Local 975, according to the Freedom Foundation:

“If you’re sensing a trend here, it’s no coincidence,” said Freedom Foundation General Counsel James Abernathy. “These aren’t isolated incidents, and they’re not mistakes. “The fact that all three organizations got caught doing the very same thing just proves this is considered business as usual for them.”

In the newest announcement, SEIU 925 agreed to file its reports in accordance with state campaign finance law. If it does so, $6,948 of its $38,663 judgment will be suspended as long as it complies with campaign finance laws going forward.
 
The union’s political action committee, SEIU Local 925 Public Service PAC (SEIU 925 PAC), will also pay $6,000, with $1,500 of that suspended as long as it also updates its reports and complies with reporting requirements.

Abernathy said the union’s failure to disclose its union activities was just an effort to deceive state regulators and the taxpaying public. “They’re also reluctant to let their own members know how much of their dues and fees are being spent on a political agenda that has nothing to do with workplace conditions."  (Bold lettering added for emphasis).