The union’s federal reports show it has suffered a loss of membership over the past two decades. It could be because the union’s spending priorities are completely off track.
AFSCME Council 31 filed its 2023 federal report with the U.S. Department of Labor this spring, and its own numbers — from membership to spending practices — don’t look good.
The union claims to represent more than 90,000 state and local government employees in Illinois. However, only 55,771 of those workers are union members, according to the union’s annual report, called LM-2.
That means that almost 40% have refused to join the union that supposedly represents their interests.
Since its peak in 2004, AFSCME Council 31 has seen a 21% drop in membership. It could be because only 23 cents of every dollar the union spends goes toward representing workers, which should be its top priority. Or it could be the millions of dollars AFSCME Council 31 spends on politics, or the exorbitant six-figure salaries it pays its bosses.
Whatever the reason, state and local government employees do not have to be members of a union to keep their jobs. They can choose not to join the union and keep their hard-earned money in their own pockets and away from the union’s misguided priorities.
AFSCME Council 31 has seen a 21% drop in membership since its peak in 2004
Membership of ASFCME Council 31 peaked in 2004, with 70,729 members. Since then it has been on a downward trend.
With only 55,771 members in 2023, that represents a 21% drop.
But the situation for AFSCME members could be worse than it appears in their LM-2. The union itself claims to represent more than 90,000 state and local government employees in Illinois. That means at least 34,229 workers that AFSCME Council 31 claims to represent (or 38%) have opted out of membership.
How can a union represent more workers than members? State or local government workers do not have to be members of the union that represents their workplace if they do not want to be. Workers can opt out of membership when they are hired or can opt out of membership later.
Judging by AFSCME numbers, it appears thousands of workers are unhappy with the way the union spends member dues and are deciding to keep their hard-earned money in their own pockets.
Only 23% of AFSCME Council 31 spending in 2023 went toward worker representation.
Each year, ASFCME Council 31’s LM-2 shows how it received or spent money in the previous fiscal year, based on its own accounting.
The union’s most recent report shows that only 23% of its spending in 2023 went to “representation activities,” which the Department of Labor defines as including the negotiation of a collective agreement and the administration and enforcement of the resulting contract.
Total spending reported by AFSCME Council 31 in 2023 was $42.46 million. However, only $9.82 million was spent representing workers, which should be the union’s main goal. The rest was spent on politics, administration and other leadership priorities.
To put this in perspective, the Better Business Bureau’s Wise Giving Alliance states that at least 65% of a nonprofit’s total expenses must go toward program activities.
While the Wise Giving Alliance evaluates spending by charities, it stands to reason that AFSCME Council 31’s spending of less than 23% on representation (the purpose of a union) should be cause for concern among members.
The union spent almost $1.3 million on politics in 2023
AFSCME Council 31 reported spending $1.27 million on “political activities and lobbying.” Of that amount, only $378,740 went to “designated beneficiaries,” such as his own political account.
The rest – more than 70% of the union’s political spending – went to unspecified purposes. Members have no way of knowing which political candidates or causes that money was spent on.
More than 70 union officials and employees earn six-figure salaries
Those who work for AFSCME Council 31 are well compensated. The top eight officers and employees earned more than $150,000 in 2023, and 72 of the union’s employees earned more than $100,000.
AFSCME Council 31 members can opt out of the union and stop paying dues
State and local government workers may disagree with the union’s spending practices or may feel that the union does not represent them well.
As John Moss, former AFSCME local president, put it, “(AFSCME Council 31) never had any support for us. They never defended us, they never did anything for us. We were not represented. “They wanted our dues, (and) increase our dues… The only thing they want to benefit is themselves, their own checkbooks.”
Whatever the reason, government workers do not have to be members of a union to keep their jobs.
By choosing not to join the union, workers can stop paying dues to the union and still retain all the benefits provided in the collective bargaining agreement with their government employer. Learn more at LeaveAFSCME.com.
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