Unions representing city employees should not be bound by Chicago’s campaign financing law limiting annual contributions to $1,500 per candidate, the Board of Ethics ruled this week.
In a confidential advisory opinion, the board ruled that a collective bargaining agreement with the city is not the same as an agreement between the city and a private company for commodities or services rendered.
Therefore, the board concluded that the $1,500 limit on campaign contributions should not apply to labor unions.
“A [collective bargaining agreement] is not a `lease, a purchase or a sale of goods or services’ to or from the city. Neither is it a zoning matter, concession agreement, bond inducement ordinance, nor any of the other types of transactions listed in the definition of `seeking to do business,’” the opinion states.
“The relevant question here is not whether a CBA is a contract, but whether by entering into a CBA with the city, a labor union is ‘doing’ or ‘seeking to do’ business within the meaning [of the campaign finance law]. We determine that it is not.”
The board cited several reasons for its decision. First, research shows that the City Council has not considered collective bargaining agreements to be leases, purchases, or sales of goods or services to or from the city.
“In fact, in 2007, several aldermen introduced to the City Council an amendment to this section that would have added CBA’s [and labor unions] into the category of `doing business,’ thereby subjecting labor unions to the law’s political contribution limitations. The amendment was never enacted into law,” the ruling states.
“Moreover, [the law] read in its entirety covers organizations with shareholders, employees, directors, officers and subsidiaries. Labor unions do not have these . . . We do not read these definitions to include contracts that set wages and working conditions of employees represented by organized labor unions. Hence, we conclude labor unions were never intended to be subject to these contribution limitations.”
As always, the confidential advisory opinion issued by the Board of Ethics does not identify the individual who requested the opinion.
But it notes that, during the 2015 election cycle, “two of the top five `industries’ in total contributions to candidates for elected city office were public sector labor unions [ranked third] and general trade unions” in fourth place.
Contributions ranked “uncoded” topped the list, followed by securities and investment, big pharma and health care products, the ruling states.
Unions have been key players in Chicago’s aldermanic and mayoral elections ever since the battle royale over Wal-Mart’s entry into the Chicago market a decade ago.
It started in the 2007 election and continued in 2011 and 2015.
Vanquished mayoral challenger Jesus “Chuy” Garcia’s campaign against Mayor Rahm Emanuel was primarily funded by the Chicago Teachers Union and SEIU Local 1 and SEIU Healthcare. Emanuel got some support from trade unions.
In 2007, Ald. George Cardenas (12th) was one of three aldermen to propose cutting off the labor spigot.
At the time, Cardenas said huge labor donations triggered by the Wal-Mart fight had become “one of the most outrageous things in terms of campaign finance . . . People are concerned about the corruption of our democracy.”
Cardenas could not be reached for comment about this week’s ruling.
The cap on campaign contributions did not apply during the 2015 mayoral election that saw Emanuel raise a record, $24 million. That’s because William Kelly, a mayoral candidate who ultimately decided not to run, made a $100,000 contribution to himself that lifted the caps.
