Photo Credit | LIUNA.org
For years, union bosses have claimed to speak for America’s workers. But like anything, the money and messaging tell a different story: one that puts the Left first and America’s workers last.
Our newest report exposes the glaring disconnect between union leadership and the rank-and-file, this time at the Laborers’ International Union of North America (LIUNA).
Like most unions, LIUNA paints itself as a blue-collar champion. In reality, its leadership acts more like a Democratic Party subcontractor with union dues on autopilot. From 2017 to 2024, LIUNA poured $1.2 million into Democratic groups while giving a mere $250,000 to Republicans. That’s not hedging bets, that’s ideological alignment—epecially when groups receiving LIUNA cash back Black Lives Matter and push policies that undermine ICE.
Most construction workers, laborers, and tradesmen didn’t sign up for funding leftist pet projects. As the Daily Caller recently reported, this is part of a broader pattern where union leadership is drifting further left at the exact moment their members are moving in the opposite direction.
We know for a fact that working-class voters are America First: they voted for secure borders, energy independence, law and order, and economic freedom.
It would be too charitable to say that LIUNA leadership has simply misunderstood this shift among their members. They’ve decided to embrace the priorities of Washington insiders, no matter how harmful they are to union members.
It pays, too. LIUNA General President Brent Booker lives in a $1.4 million home in the D.C. area and spent the run-up to the last election at the Democratic National Committee endorsing Kamala Harris. That tells you everything you need to know about where his focus is.
Because it certainly isn’t on the average LIUNA member making roughly $50,000 a year. These are workers dealing with skyrocketing costs, unstable job markets, and policies that directly threaten their industries. They’re not asking for Green New Deal mandates and immigration policies that drive down wages and strains job sites.
What they’re getting instead is activism. LIUNA’s official X account has repeatedly attacked Donald Trump and conservative policies while promoting green energy mandates and rhetoric that aligns with open-border advocates.
That’s not representation. That’s political messaging—funded, ironically, by the dues of workers who disagree with it.
LIUNA’s leadership has become a pipeline for left-wing priorities, treating members less like constituents and more like a funding base. The result is a growing fracture, one that the union’s leaders seem unwilling to acknowledge.
But workers are noticing. They see where their money is going and who their leaders are standing with. And they see that their own values are being sidelined in favor of an elitist, progressive political agenda.
Union leadership has a choice to make. They can continue acting as an arm of the Democratic Party, pushing policies their members reject, or they can course-correct—realign with the workers they represent and stop blowing member dues on causes that undermine their livelihoods.
Until that happens, the old labor-left alliance will continue to crack.
Tom Jones is the President of the American Accountability Foundation.
Reprinted with Permission from DC Journal – By Tom Jones
The opinions expressed by columnists are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of AMAC or AMAC Action.
Union bosses live off membership, they egg them on against the man, but when strike comes ,do not live on strike pay and don’t find it discomforting, that says it all. Mafia. Every single one of them should be investigated by FBI, how much money they handle, how they handle it and where all it goes to. .
The labor unions have outlived their purpose.
My Dad was a member of the Teamsters for many, many years and lots of dues were paid just to be stolen by the union.
I am sure many, like my Dad was an “over the road” Teamster that lost almost all of their/his pension due to the corruption and theft of the pension funds.
After retirement my parents lived on the social security monthly income, with an annual pension payment of $700.00 from the union.
Reading this article brings back the memories of the “Hoffa” days of Jimmie’s mysterious disappearance and a lot of the workers pension funds!
Union leaders are ELITISTS who live in mansions and drive fancy cars while their members are middle class members who live paycheck-to-paycheck. This article mentions one union–another is AFT [teachers] who gave members’ dues money to foreign left-wing organizations. With only about 1/3 of their “clients” [students] succeeding, maybe they should keep the money in their schools and stop financing Marxists!
The unions are all with the democrats leadership from top to bottom. Unions never were for the working class. Since Jimmy Hoffa and before unions are rotten to the core. They take the dues but never do anything worthwhile. When was the last time a strike was held and the unions got a better deal for their members. Never. Like any of these organizations they become all powerful and think they can create a govt all powerful for their cause. Think the teachers union here. They lowered the teacher standards drew down the curriculum and now Johnny and Janie can’t read can’t do math and don’t know where America is on a map let stand Russia or China. But they know trans and trans surgery and trans drugs and know all the pronouns for these people, they know furries and drag queens as young as 4 years old. I had never heard of a drag queen nor of a gay or lesbian person when I was a kid, and all of a sudden we have millions of them and where are they? In the elementary schools of all places. We have a Supreme Court Judge that can’t say what is a woman. While she is one herself. Who thought she’d make an excellent Supreme Court judge. Oh I know Autopen Biden. And here we are. Unions are in cahoots with the left dems, the billionaires are financing the violence that is happening in this country. They are demonstrating in the street for criminals against law and order. They are screaming to let every criminal from murderers to rapist out of prison. Judges are apologizing to assassins who attempted to kill our sitting President. They killed JFK, MLK, RFK and now they kill scientists and people like Charlie Kirk because he was a believer in God and they worship Satan. They do what they accuse Trump off every day 24/7.
Sounds like a Somali neighborhood.
i tell the workers all the time that the unions are just taking their money and they don’t care about the workers! Unions are no longer needed, you have federal guidelines to control salaries and hours of work as well as working conditions! The unions are in it for the money!
Let’s just call the Democratic Party what it is: a subversive mob system. That’s how Communism works, they get control of your money and end up with controlling your life. You think Hillary Clinton has been retired all this time? Not a chance. She comes out from wherever (the aka: Clinton Foundation?) to spout her criticism and goes back to pulling the strings of a very large puppet show. She and Obama espouse the same ideas. There’s that list of how to take over a country (can’t remember the “messiah’s” name who originally wrote it, but I especially remember one of the steps. Cause the various groups to hate each other and foment riots and unrest. She and Obama are uneasy bedmates, but come together in a common cause. I’ve never been a conspiracy theorist, but these things are actually happening according to “the list”. I am also a Christian and I believe this is simply how our country doesn’t even get a mention in the “last days”. Just sorry I have to watch it because I love my country…
The only way they will change course is by firing the heads–all of them–and putting in file and rank leaders.
the elites want a one world government and the politicians do as well because they think they will be apart of it. traitors will be killed off just like Trotsky in Mexico City by Lenins men; TOO bad people do not read history you could learn a lot
Sounds like a mob operation to me. But it also doesn’t surprise me.
Their sign needs to say “We Are Lunatics” instead!
Labor unions ruined the U.S. long ago by increasing the costs of doing manufacturing here. Companies had to move to other countries so they could keep manufacturing goods. The teacher’s unions now are doing the same to our schools. With their constant demands for money which does nothing to elevate education, it simply wants money for itself so they can protest for radical liberal politics. ALL unions need to be disbanded, including the one for government employees. They did a lot of good for the workers decades ago but now there are federal laws to cover employee’s rights.
My Dad was member of the Plumber & Pipefitters trade union for over 50 years, and in Florida which is not a union-friendly state. The best thing I can say about trade unions is that they do uphold a standard of work quality. He also was able to retire comfortably due to a local and national pension plan (which he contributed to all his working life)
Workers unions such as WalMart, etc. do not serve any purpose other than to feed a machine.
Why I hate Unions
Ex UFCW 770
Teamsters 360 EX member
How do these radical left-wing Socialist America-LAST losers get elected to to such a position? Is it typical mass DemoRAT CHEATING, or are there that many dumba$$, gullible members?
The intelligent and brave union members should IMMEDIATELY UNITE AND STRIKE UNTIL THE SELF-CENTERED, CORRUPT AND GREEDY COMMIES ARE DRIVEN OUT OF THEIR UNION!!
This information on union leaders is no surprise at all It’s been this way for some time.
Back in the days of sweatshops, abusive child labor, and such, the unions were certainly necessary, but rarely are they justified today. Local unions addressing local problems can be justified but the internationals are just playing politics. And I was a member of 3 different unions during my lifetime.
All unions typically and historically are run by the left, in sharp contrast to the majority membership, the squeaky wheel so to speak! Membership is strongly advised to stay quiet by those members and managers who try to convince others that the union is the only thing saving jobs and fair wages while in reality the opposite is true, Teamsters are a prime example of this fallacy, mngt makes a great deal of money while the rank and file may make a living wage if they’re lucky, been there, done that!
Its flag should feature the Hammer and Sickle. As should the flags of most “modern” unions.
Unions are the best example of socialism’s failure. A peasant class being constantly raped by the elite bosses. Those bosses living the dream at the expense of honest hard working people.
WHY folks still belong to unions, in this day and age, gets more ‘curiouser and curiouser’ as time wears on.
Curious, that.
Agree! All unions are leftist.
As an airline employee, I couldn’t totally bow out of the union even though I was in a right to work state. I did become a BECK OBJECTOR, which meant they could not charge me for ANY portion of required dues that would go to anything political.
Members who have worked for over 25-35 years deserve to know the money they’ve put in will not be used to fund a political movement. It is for them and their families. Keep voting in conservative leaders and maybe they left will get the hint. (praying)
I’ve only been a member of two unions in my (now retired) working career. The first was, as many unions are, corrupt and the increasingly crazy demands and work stoppages put the company out of business. Although not a member (was a “company man”), I worked at a UMWA mine and the demands (along with the government’s regulations) put that mine out of business too. The last place I worked before retiring had a union that supported the DNC until there were enough people threatening to quit the union unless their dues were being more evenly distributed. A vote was taken and more people voted for the Republican Party to get funds than the DImocrats. Of course just a few years later, the company found it expedient to move its operations to Mexico…
Unions have served their purpose. Unions became a relic in this century. Its time to outlaw them! Make their leadership actually WORK for their money, not allow them to STEAL IT from their members, then give it to the communists!
The irony is unbelievable, but definitely true. Since the mid fourties, when the United Mine Workers union really helped the coal miners in the area where I grew up, I have not seen the same help. Its still amazing to me that a group of highly skilled, and very necessary workers, would elect to join such a monstrosity and pay to get to.
Ummmmm, unions need to be outlawed PERIOD! An employer wants to take care of dedicated employees these days. My dad did in his business back in the the mid 60’s. Some were transients but those that made a career of it where taken care of and their families when they retired at the end of their service. I worked with many of them and attended the big parties my dad put on for them when they retired. Modern unions are the bane of society these days. They serve no useful purpose. They had their time 100 years ago but are useless fodder, scabbing off their members and need to be trashed now. The more employees directly deal with their employers without “intermediaries” the better off this world will be.
This should be illegal. There should be no way any union supports any political party. Elections have become bought instead of voted on. It’s who gets the most money that usually ends up winning. How corrupt is that? No company, no union, no one person should be allowed to “donate” to any political party. PERIOD
I believe that the whole country should become a Right to Work Country. You should not be forced to join a union just to get a job. The union gets a good chunk of the members dues and the member gets screwed. If the member had to write a check to the union every time he gets paid, I believe that they would get out of the union.