Bush Plan to Prevent Unions’ Political Use of Non-Members’ Dues Reported

President Bush is planning to take steps to prevent unions from using billions of dollars in fees collected from non-members for political activities the non-members do not support, a published report said.

Bush will outline the effort in a speech Monday, the New York Times reported today, quoting White House officials it did not name.

The President hopes to enforce a 1988 Supreme Court decision that said non-union workers who must pay dues to unions only have to pay for collective bargaining and representation on labor-management activities, the newspaper said.

A White House spokesman, Doug Davidson, said Saturday night that he had no knowledge of any upcoming announcement by Bush on the issue.

The officials the paper quoted said the move should return about $2.4 billion a year to workers.

Labor leaders vigorously oppose such restrictions, saying they would force unions to spend more money on accounting and undermine legitimate political activities.

Lane Kirkland, president of the AFL-CIO, accused Bush of pandering “to union-bashing, right-wing extremists in his party.”

“It is laughable for the President, after vetoing unemployment insurance improvements and failing to show concern for the millions of jobless in the longest recession since the 1930s, now to pretend that he’s the friend of workers,” he said.

Bush also intends to issue an executive order requiring federal contractors to post notices telling employees of their right to object to unions’ use of money for political activities, the newspaper said.

In some states, workers who do not belong to a union but are covered by its contract must pay union dues. Under Bush’s plan, those workers could use the Supreme Court ruling to get part of their dues back.

Unions endorse Democratic candidates far more often than they endorse Republicans, although Republicans have won about one-third of the votes of union households in recent congressional elections, the paper reported.

Bush also plans to order the Labor Department to require unions to report separately the amounts they spend for political activities, lobbying and contract negotiations.

Federal laws bar unions from contributing directly to political campaigns. However, unions may use their money for get-out-the-vote drives and to mobilize support for a cause through telephone banks, newsletters and other activities.