ALEC and FreedomWork's War on Workers
By Brendan Fischer, PR Watch
15 January 13
This month, FreedomWorks announced "an
aggressive grassroots, state-based campaign" for 2013 to "push back
against domineering unions," among other plans. The group has been in
the midst of turmoil in recent months with former House Majority Leader
Dick Armey abruptly resigning after the 2012 elections, in part because
of concerns about the ethics of FreedomWorks President Matt Kibbe. In
the aftermath of President Barack Obama’s strong showing in battleground
states where union members turned out in large numbers against Mitt
Romney, Kibbe is apparently prioritizing anti-union advocacy.
Unions
have been under attack since the 2010 elections swept new Republican
majorities into statehouses across the country. Starting in early 2011,
states like Wisconsin and Ohio passed legislation to restrict collective
bargaining rights for public sector employees (although Ohio citizens
were able to reverse one of the most pernicious bills via referendum),
and in late 2012, the Michigan legislature rushed a "right to work" bill
into law during the lame duck session.
So-called
right to work laws undermine collective bargaining by allowing some
employees to free ride when the union uses the collective power of
workers to negotiate wages, raises, and other benefits with managers.
Under right to work laws, employees can get these benefits while
opting-out of paying the costs, which groups like FreedomWorks have spun
as "workplace freedom."
Much of the anti-union legislation introduced since the 2010 elections
can be traced to "model" bills from ALEC, after legislators who attended
the December 2010 ALEC meeting embraced the right to work agenda that
had stalled decades earlier.
CMD identified how Michigan's right to work measure, for example, was almost identical to the ALEC model. More recently, Progress Missouri identified how
ALEC legislators in that state have introduced another right to work
proposal that closely resembles the ALEC "model" Right to Work Act.
ALEC
legislators have also been buoyed by support for these measures from
groups like David Koch's Americans for Prosperity. After a number of
Republicans were defeated in federal races, FreedomWorks now appears to
have made anti-union legislation in the states a priority for 2013.
Leaked Documents Show Record Fundraising, Internal Coordination
As
details about the power struggle within FreedomWorks emerged in
December - with a wealthy donor who secretly gave $12 million to the
Freedomworks Super PAC buying Armey's silenceabout Kibbe's ethical issues until after the election via an $8 million "consulting" contract - internalboard documents leaked
to Mother Jones showed that $33 million of the $41 million raised by
the group through mid-December came in the form of five-and six-figure
checks, contradicting the notion that FreedomWorks is at its core a
"grassroots" organization (even though it has been increasing its
small-donor base).
According
to the leaked documents, FreedomWorks' fundraising surged in 2012,
largely thanks to the group's Super PAC, FreedomWorks for America,
which raised $23 million.
Federal
law requires a group like FreedomWorks to have segregated accounting
for its Super PAC, charitable, and nonprofit wings. But Kibbe reported
to the board a single $42 million in "consolidated" revenue for 2012,
combining funds raised by the FreedomWorks for America Super PAC, the
501(c)(3) charity Freedomworks Foundation, and the 501(c)(4)
Freedomworks, Inc. (The group has also shifted millions between its 501(c)(4) and Super PAC in 2012, effectively hiding the identity of the true donor).
"The
difference between us and other Super PACs is our commitment to
building a machine that outlives any election, won or lost," wrote Kibbe
in a "President's Report" to the FreedomWorks Board of Directors.
FreedomWorks to Use Funds to Attack Unions
FreedomWorks now intends to direct that war chest - and that "machine" - towards anti-union battles in the states.
Since the election, FreedomWorks has promoted a petition to "support Michigan Governor Rick Snyder" in his anti-union push, published multiple blogs attac
In a January 6 message to the FreedomWorks email list,
Kibbe announced a new "Save the States" campaign and linked to a
website where users could rank the issues FreedomWorks has identified as
priorities - like Right to Work, Paycheck Protection, "school choice"
(which is presented as an anti-union initiative), and reforming the supposedly "extravagant" pensions promised to unionized public sector employees.
Four
out of the five issues in the FreedomWorks "Save the States" campaign
are tied to weakening unions, either directly or indirectly.
As CMD has reported,
attacks on unions are not only about expanding corporate profit margins
at the expense of workers, but also about cutting-off a key funding
stream for Democrats and progressive causes (even though the dues
workers pay are separate from the funds provided for political
activity). These efforts also limit the capacity of unions to get out
the vote in support of candidates who protect worker's rights or against
candidates who want to strip them away. By weakening a political
opponent FreedomWorks can expand its own influence over elections.
FreedomWorks
does not appear to be alone in its push. David Koch's Americans for
Prosperity also appears to be publicly prioritizing anti-union advocacy,
for example calling for right to work in Wisconsin. AFP reported spending $39 million on the 2012 elections (and at least $10 milliondefending
Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker during his recall), but as a nonprofit
its primary purpose cannot be electoral. Its lobbying and advocacy on
anti-union initiatives could be one way to try and justify its nonprofit "social welfare" status.
FreedomWorks
and Americans for Prosperity both grew out of Citizens for a Strong
Economy, a non-profit group founded by David Koch in the early 1980s.
Koch Industries and philanthropies have been key funders of ALEC - which
has been instrumental in advancing anti-union laws around the country -
and AFP is an ALEC member along with Koch Industries and other groups
funded by the Koch family fortune. The degree to which FreedomWorks is
formally associated with ALEC is not known but its leaders have
presented at ALEC meetings, and ALEC's Director of External Relations,
Caitlyn Korb (who started her career as a Koch Summer Fellow) has recently moved over to FreedomWorks.
This
means there may be even bigger battles over labor rights in coming
years than we have seen during the turmoil of 2011 and 2012 - and the
right-wing is backing the ALEC agenda big time, with big money.
