Financial and political resources of nine major public sector unions in the 1980s

Abstract

Current research offers two potentially competing perspectives on union strength: membership and financial/political resources. We update and broaden the research on the financial and political resources of nine major public sector unions in the U.S. by reporting these unions’ financial assets, net worth, revenues, and political action committee (PAC) receipts during the 1980s and the early 1990s. We find that unions may expand their financial and political resources even though membership levels stagnate or decline. Overall, the unions have amassed larger asset bases, even though some have actually lost members. On a per member basis, federal executive branch unions do not appear as financially weak as the level of their financial resources suggests. Postal unions as a group are clearly the strongest in terms of per member financial and political resources. Federal executive branch unions have experienced a striking reduction in their PAC activity, while the postal and the state and local union PACs have grown substantially. Our analysis indicates that union membership may not adequately measure union strength.