Public unions do more than bargain over wages and working conditions. They endorse candidates and ballot measures, produce voter guides, use direct mail and other member communications to urge workers and their families who and what to support. They get into all sorts of campaign fights using treasuries built with members’ wages.
The current election season displays this clearly. The Washington Education Association (WEA) opposes all three statewide measures slated for the November ballot: Initiative IL26-001, concerning parental rights in public schools, Initiative IL26-638, concerning participation in athletics at K-12 schools, and IP26-645, the initiative to repeal an income tax passed by Democratic state legislators earlier this year. (Unlike candidate contributions, which come from voluntary WEA-Political Action Committee donations, member dues may be used for ballot-initiative campaigns without separately obtaining each member’s approval for that particular campaign.)
Information from the Public Disclosure Commission (PDC) shows that, as of July 30, 2026, the National Education Association, WEA and SEIU 775 were among the largest reported contributors to the principal campaign that is opposing IL26-001 and IL26-638. And a July 8 Washington Observer story stated that three unions were supplying virtually all money raised by “No on 645," the campaign opposing the initiative to repeal the income tax. It reported that “the Washington Education Association, the Washington Federation of State Employees, and relevant locals of the Services Employees International Union have each chipped in $1M apiece.”
This is a rerun. Powerful union machinery was in action in 2024. SEIU 775’s ballot fund formally registered with the PDC in opposition to I-2109, which was related to a capital gains tax, I-2117, which aimed to repeal key parts of the 2021 Climate Commitment Act, and I-2124, a measure hoping to make participation in WA Cares optional for workers. Unions played prominent roles in the coalitions fighting all three measures. And all three measures were defeated.
Public-sector unions also supply money, staff and campaign muscle to candidates, primarily on the Democratic side of the aisle. In 2022, OpenSecrets data showed almost 90% of labor-sector campaign contributions in 2016 went to Democrats, a fact consistent with at least two decades of labor contribution trends.
Lawmakers also scratch the backs of unions. For example, in 2025, the state Legislature did them a favor by passing Senate Bill 5041, which extended unemployment insurance benefits to striking workers. That turned the UI fund into an employer-paid strike fund. It is already being utilized. Read more here.
Public employers in Washington state collect dues for public unions through state payroll systems. State law also gives unions special access to public employees after their hire. Both practices cloud awareness that union membership is entirely voluntary. And neutral information about the right not to join a union is hard to find. It's not included on required workplace-rights posters, and various HR departments have told me they refer union membership questions to unions themselves. Obviously, if you want to ask about not belonging to a union, being told to ask a union about it could be an intimidating prospect.
But this isn't about what's working out for Democrats and unions in the state. It's about fairness and supporting a worker’s First Amendment right.
Public unions are campaign financiers, coalition organizers and political message shops. That’s why the U. S. Supreme Court’s 2018 decision in Janus v. AFSCME — which affirmed public workers cannot be required to fund a union as a condition of employment — was, and remains, so important. Public employers should increase workers’ awareness that they do not have to financially support political advocacy with which they disagree.
Union leaders are entitled to advocate for their causes, but workers are entitled to decide whether to finance the advocacy. Public employers should be required to give every new employee clear, neutral notice about their First Amendment right not to join a public employee union. This information should appear at hiring and in ordinary workplace spaces, no longer hidden behind a union referral or buried in legal fog.
