One of the most politically powerful unions in America is under congressional investigation after members allege union bosses have been hiding the organization’s financial audits
The U.S. House Education and Workforce Committee reports Chairman Tim Walberg (R-MI) and Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions Subcommittee Chairman Rick W. Allen (R-GA) “sent a letter to Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) President Stacy Davis Gates regarding the union’s failure to provide CTU members with complete financial audits for half a decade.”
“Congress expects workers to have both transparency and a voice in how their dues are used. When unions, like the CTU, flout these obligations, they betray the trust of the very people they are meant to serve,” the Committee states.
In the letter, Reps. Walberg and Allen write: “The Committee on Education and Workforce (Committee) is investigating whether reforms to the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act (LMRDA) are necessary to protect union members’ rights in light of certain failures by the [CTU]. Specifically, evidence indicates that CTU has failed to provide its members with complete financial audits since 2020. This failure to disclose financial information strips dues-paying members of their basic right to understand how their money is spent. The Committee intends to determine how this breakdown in transparency occurred, which will inform its potential reforms to the LMRDA.”
The letter continues: “The Committee understands that CTU leadership has actively sought to keep complete financial information from its own members who continue to request that audits be published. For example, we understand that you impugned a member’s request that audits be published by maligning the request as a racist ‘dog whistle.’ The Committee is concerned that CTU has undertaken a half-decade long, concerted effort to deny its members the complete audit information to which they are entitled under the union’s by-laws.”
The letter concludes: “By withholding complete financial audits from its members, CTU has failed to uphold the spirit of union transparency or comply with its own by-laws. As such, the Committee is investigating this matter to better determine whether the LMRDA should be amended to strengthen its requirements so that union members have access to more robust and timely financial information. Every dollar paid by workers should serve their interests, not those of a select few operating in the shadows.”
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of American Liberty News.
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Since I worked at a small IBEW union for several years and did all their books and interfaced with the auditors which inspired me to get my CPA. It was interesting, well audited and quite clear where the money went. So I do not understand the hold up with disclosure. There are only a few reasons for fraud. Need, opportunity and no oversight. So I am betting a whole lot of misspending is going on. Hang em high!