Supreme Inequality by Adam Cohen

Author:Adam Cohen
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Published: 2020-02-24T16:00:00+00:00

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There is one more set of Court rulings that, although not directly related to employment, has done substantial harm to workers: the campaign finance decisions, starting with Buckley v. Valeo. By striking down restrictions on spending in elections, the Court dramatically shifted the balance of power toward wealthy individuals and corporations. Those increasingly empowered individuals and corporations have used their influence to persuade elected officials to adopt anti-worker laws and policies.

In the years since Buckley, corporations have eclipsed organized labor in political spending, reflecting the decline of organized labor and the growth of American business. In 1978, labor PACs gave more to congressional candidates than corporate PACs did. By the 2017–18 cycle, corporate PACs were giving nearly seven times as much. In that same cycle, OpenSecrets.org looked at the breakdown in overall donations in federal elections and found that ones supportive of business interests outspent ones aligned with labor interests by about 16 to 1.

Contributions by wealthy individuals who run corporations have soared, and now vastly outstrip labor union spending. In the 2018 election cycle, Sheldon Adelson and his wife contributed more than $123 million to federal candidates, and Michael Bloomberg gave more than $95 million. Richard Uihlein, a far-right business supplies magnate, contributed nearly $40 million. The highest-contributing union gave just over $42 million. Although these individuals have a number of policy priorities, opposition to unions is often high on their list. The Ed Uihlein Family Foundation, which Richard Uihlein controls, has been a major funder of the Liberty Justice Center, and The Guardian has called Adelson “one of the country’s most high-profile and powerful opponents of labor unions.”

Corporate contributions and spending also flow heavily at the state level. In 2018, candidates for governor, state legislature, and other state offices raised $2.2 billion, nearly as much as Senate and House candidates raised, and much of it came from corporate interests. A Center for Public Integrity report on the 2018 election cycle found that corporate donors gave large amounts to governors who were almost certain to win their elections. “Why Are Corporations Pouring Millions into Shoo-in Governor Races?,” the report’s title asked. The center answered its own question: it was “likely an effort to court power,” the report said. “Donations can open the door to face time with state executives, which especially benefits regulated businesses . . . And the safer the seat, the safer the bet.”

One of the main anti-worker policies that corporate interests have been buying in recent years is state right-to-work laws, the laws that prevent both public- and private-sector unions from signing contracts requiring workers to pay union dues or fair-share fees. The corporate-funded American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), which has a strong presence in state legislatures across the country, has been a major force in promoting pro-business laws at the state level, including right-to-work legislation. The large amount of corporate money flowing to state legislators helps to give ALEC a receptive audience.

The drive for right-to-work laws has scored a series of recent successes.

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