WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The House Workforce Protections Subcommittee, chaired by Rep. Charlie Norwood (R-GA), today held a hearing on the use of union dues for political purposes. Two Ohio teachers and a member of a New York City-based service industry union testified on the use of their union dues to further political causes they oppose.

     “Under the First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States, citizens of this country cannot be forced to contribute to causes which violate their religious beliefs or with which they disagree for other reasons,” said Norwood. “I continue to be frustrated by the failure of unions to honor these basic American principles.”

     “The democratic rights of rank-and-file union members should be fully protected,” said Education & the Workforce Committee Chairman John Boehner (R-OH). “I am committed to working with all members to build support for legislation that safeguards the rights of working Americans and ensures that union members’ dues are not used for political activities they oppose or cause they object to on religious grounds.”

    Dominick Bentiveana, a member of the SEIU Local 32 B-J in Brooklyn, New York, explained how his local union “borrowed” $600,000 in union dues that was then distributed to the Mark Green mayoral campaign in New York City. “At a subsequent officers meeting, I asked Michael Fishman about the ‘loan,’ said Bentiveana. “He then amazingly explained that there was never a loan; it was now a ‘reallocation of the budget.’” Bentiveana also testified that union members were “forced to take personal days and vacation days to campaign for Mark Green.”

     Kathleen Klamut, a former member of the National Education Association (NEA) from Mogadore, Ohio, testified about problems she encountered with the union about objections to the use of dues money for political causes. “I feel that the union’s plan was simply to wear me down,” Klamut said. “The union threatens to take my job away unless I violate my religious beliefs. It seems like every day I have to choose between my family’s economic security and the requirements of my faith. This is not right.”

     Dennis Robey, a member of the NEA from Dayton, Ohio, informed his union in 1995 that he had religious objections about the use of his dues money and requested that it be donated to charities.

     “All these years I have faithfully objected, jumped through all the union’s hoops, and paid the money which ultimately went to charity,” said Robey. “I have also pursued the legal channels to try to protect my rights. It has not been easy and it has been a distraction for my work -- which is to teach students -- and my family life. Like Thomas Jefferson, I pray for the day when this type of tyranny will end and employees will not be forced to support labor unions or even charities.”

     Bob Williams, president of the Olympia, Washington-based Evergreen Freedom Foundation, detailed activities of the state's NEA affiliate that were determined to be unlawful by Washington State courts. “What the teacher union does to its members may be the last institutionalized civil rights violation remaining in our nation,” said Williams, adding, “The response of the teacher union to dissent has been chilling.”

     Mark R. Levin, president of the Landmark Legal Foundation in Herndon, Virginia, discussed the NEA’s failure to disclose its political activities on its union financial disclosure forms, and how the IRS and Labor Department have not been enforcing the law to ensure compliance. As a result, Levin said, “the most diligent NEA member cannot discern how much his union engages in, or how much of his union dues are being spent, on political activities.”

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