For decades, labor unions have sold Americans a lie—that they stand for the working man. In truth, they’ve always stood for themselves. Bloated, unaccountable, and addicted to political power, union bosses have drained taxpayers, strangled innovation, and driven good jobs out of the country. A new report by Americans for Limited Government (ALG), Union Bosses vs. MAGA, exposes the latest chapter in this long-running racket: a sprawling scheme ofmisappropriation, abuse, and mission creep.
The Taxpayers Protection Alliance (TPA) has long warned that union power and government control go hand in hand—and both come at the expense of American workers. Instead of supporting growth, competition, or freedom, unions push for more bureaucracy, more spending, and more rules that keep workers dependent and taxpayers footing the bill.
Unions often back protections that slow down technology, efficiency gains, and competitive disruption. For example, when unions insist on restrictive work rules or carve out burdensome licensing/regulation regimes, they raise costs and reduce productive flexibility. A wide-ranging 2025 Mercatus Center study concludes, “Union power doesn’t just boost wages indefinitely; in fact, when unions press for unsustainable terms, this backfires and results in slower employment growth and fewer job opportunities for unionized workers.” Furthermore, hundreds of millions of dollars in union political spending aren’t going to new growth sectors or pro‑innovation platforms—they’re funneled into ugly and counterproductive partisan fighting. According to ALG’s report, union bosses have turned mandatory dues into a political war‑chest that works against innovation and pro‑worker reforms.
Unions historically have pushed for onerous federal and state rules that benefit existing insiders but raise barriers to entry, innovation, and new investment. Whether through stricter labor‑market rules, licensing mandates, or opposition to deregulation, union‑backed policies often elevate costs for consumers, hold back new entrants, and hamper competition. In many cases, these union activities raise costs for taxpayers. For example, in 2013, the financially beleaguered U.S. Postal Service launched a pilot to put postal retail operations in more than 80 Staples locations. The idea was to expand this partnership if everything went smoothly and make it easier to close redundant and costly post offices. Despite the convenience and reasonableness of this idea, unions (predictably) killed the partnership shortly after it began.
Likewise, union advocacy for big government directly leads to policies that harm taxpayers and consumers. The report highlights an astonishing funding dynamic: nearly 90 percent of unions’ political contributions flow to Democrats. Meanwhile, independent research shows that among major public‑sector unions, more than 95 percent of PAC spending supports Democrats. This illustrates a profound disconnect: union leadership is deploying mandatory dues to promote one party’s agenda—even when many members hold different views.
Rank‑and‑file union members overwhelmingly care about tax relief, lower prices for goods and services, and continued innovation. These are core tenets of the MAGA coalition and broadly resonant with working‑class Americans. Yet as the ALG report shows, union leadership is actively working against that agenda.
As ALG Executive Director Robert Romano notes in a recent op-ed, “While the rank and file often back the [P]resident … their leaders are still spending mandatory union dues to attack the policies their own members voted for.”
The root of the problem is that outdated federal policies grant unions exclusive representation rights and allow them to charge mandatory fees while union leaders repeatedly abuse these perks. As a recent Cato Institute report recounts, “Congress imposed the Davis–Bacon Act of 1931, the Norris–LaGuardia Act of 1932, and the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) of 1935 on the private sector workforce. ... These labor laws are still on the books, and they are deeply flawed. They damage the economy and violate individual rights, particularly the freedom of association.”
If union dues are mandatory (which should not be the case), workers deserve a clear accounting of how those funds are used—especially when they’re channeled into political fighting rather than innovation or workforce development. The legal precedent around union dues for political activities—going back to the 1988 Supreme Court decision in Communications Workers of America v. Beck—emphasizes that members shouldn’t be compelled to fund political speech without choice.
Unions are meant to protect workers. When they redirect mandatory dues toward destructive political ends at odds with members’ interests, endorse innovation-stifling regulations, and block policies that would lift living standards, unions undermine the working class. It’s time for union leadership to stop wasting workers’ money on political vendettas and get back to actually serving their members.
David Williams is the president of the Taxpayers Protection Alliance.
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