Organized labor may be hurting, but it would be hard to tell from the amount of money that the four big postal unions are spending on this year’s presidential and congressional races.
According to their most recent disclosure reports filed earlier this month, the four–through their political action committees–had shoveled about $9.6 million into the 2012 election cycle, already ahead of the $8.9 million total for 2010, a non-presidential election year, according to data compiled by the non-partisan Center for Responsive Politics.
Accounting for more than half of the 2012 sum was the National Association of Letter Carriers, followed by the American Postal Workers Union, the National Rural Letter Carriers’ Association and the National Postal Mail Handlers Union.
The stepped-up giving comes as Congress is struggling to find a fix for the U.S. Postal Service’s myriad problems that could have far-reaching consequences for rank-and-file employees, particularly if lawmakers agree to the agency’s plan to end most Saturday mail delivery.
In regard to campaign contributions, the bulk of union giving has been directed to Democratic candidates and party organizations, although an occasional Republican does turn up as a recipient. Most notably, the rural letter carriers’ PAC gave $8,500 to Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee chairman who wants to eliminate layoff protections from future Postal Service labor contracts.
Here’s the spending breakdown for 2012 and 2010:
Union 2012 2010
NALC: $5,751,165 $5,407,918
APWU: $2,136,855 $2,070,352
NRLCA: $1,258,708 $1,255, 141
NPMHU: $429,575 $198,359
TOTAL: $9,576,303 $8,931,740
8 Comments
Seriously Rural carriers? Issa? Must not want to be a public employee any longer… Say hello to increased health care costs and lower salaries!!! Oh and you might have to stay on past 4 hours to make the money you make.
Donations to either candidate will not avert the decline to an obsolete service, but one candidate has shown a willingness to bail out failing industries in an effort to maintain a voting bloc so there may be some short term hope!
Rural Carriers need to throw out the scalawags helping Issa close the USPS. What MORONS!
Rural Carriers need to throw out the scalawags helping Issa close the USPS.
Only in the gov’t peope expect all their jobs to remain forever regardless of changing economic conditions. You demand not to be laid off even though the job is no longer needed. No wonder gov’t never gets downsized and is going bankrupt. If post office was privatized and run like a business it would have been profitable years ago. I’m surprise the USPS is not still using horses. Seriously???
Rural Carriers will be in the eye of the storm and are too stupid to see it.
Rural Carriers will be in the eye of the storm and are contributing money to thier own death.
I hope my union dues are not supporting that Marxist in Chief!