Unions Cut Donations to Democrats

Some of the nation’s largest labor unions are dramatically cutting their donations to the Democratic Party, saying they are frustrated with the Democrats for failing to put up strong resistance to Republican proposals that are opposed by labor, such as the efforts to eliminate collective-bargaining rights for public-sector workers. Unions are shifting their funding to target political races at the state level. In the first quarter of this year, union political action committees cut funding for House Democrats by half compared with the first quarter of 2009, from $5.8 million down to $3.1 million. Corporate PAC’s cut their contributions to House Democrats by 26% to $7.2 million. Union contributions to Republicans decreased as well, but by only 13 percent.