GovernmentExecutive.com

As the party conventions and general election season draw closer, federal employee groups are ramping up their political contributions and mobilizing members to support candidates and raise awareness about their priorities.

In the presidential campaign, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., will benefit primarily from those efforts. Obama has received the endorsement of four federal employee unions: the American Federation of Government Employees, the National Treasury Employees Union, National Air Traffic Controllers Association, and the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers.

"As federal employees, our members have witnessed firsthand the devastating impact of the Bush administration's misguided policies, but with Sen. Obama, we can right the direction of this country," said AFGE president John Gage, a superdelegate, when he endorsed Obama in May.

The national Active and Retired Federal Employees Association does not endorse political candidates. The International Association of Machinists, the National Federation of Federal Employees' parent union, voted present at the AFL-CIO's endorsement vote, rather than give Obama a full endorsement.

Beyond presidential endorsements, federal employee organizations also are investing heavily in congressional elections, focusing their giving on House Democratic incumbents.

• NTEU, which has 150,000 members, contributed $211,000 to candidates as of late June, according to data from the Center for Responsive Politics. Of that figure, 96 percent went to Democrats and 4 percent to Republicans. NTEU gave $168,100 to House Democrats; $7,000 to House Republicans; $34,900 to House Democrats and $1,000 to one Senate Republican, Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania.
• NATCA, with 20,000 members, has allocated $1.6 million in political contributions -- 77 percent to Democrats and 23 percent to Republicans. Of that total, sitting House Democrats received $1.12 million; House Republicans, $320,000; Senate Democrats, $142,225 and Senate Republicans, $52,500.
• NARFE has given $206,500 to political candidates, with Democrats claiming 80 percent of those funds and Republicans receiving 20 percent. The organization gave $142,500 to House Democrats; $35,000 to House Republicans; $22,000 to Senate Democrats and $7,000 to Senate Republicans.

NTEU, NATCA and NARFE all have contributed to Rep. Tom Davis, R-Va., the ranking member of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, the panel that oversees many federal workforce issues. Davis announced in January that he would retire at the end of his term in 2008. His Northern Virginia seat is trending Democratic.

Other Republicans who received federal employee campaign contributions so far this election cycle included Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., whose donors were NTEU and NATCA, and Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Va., who received contributions from all three organizations. NTEU and NATCA also contributed to the campaign coffers of Rep. Steven LaTourette, R-Ohio. LaTourette has a particularly close relationship with the air traffic controllers' union, which honored him in 2007 with its Sentinel of Safety award.

Federal employee organizations not only are giving money to campaigns, but are participating in political activities as well. NARFE has designated August Meet Your Candidates month and is providing local union chapters and leaders with talking points and questionnaires to help suss out the candidates' views on the group's top priorities. Those issues include cost-of-living adjustments to Social Security, national health care reform and the possibility of rolling the uninsured into the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program.

"Congress will be in summer recess from Aug. 8 until Sept. 8, and the month is the prime time for candidates -- incumbents, challengers and those vying for open seats -- to be campaigning for the fall elections in their home districts and states, creating an excellent opportunity for NARFE members to meet with candidates and acquaint them with the association and our legislative concerns," the organization wrote to its members in the May issue of its magazine.

NTEU had been working on nonpartisan voter registration efforts before the union formally endorsed Obama, but President Colleen M. Kelley said NTEU would be organizing local endorsements for Obama, running education efforts and turning out union members to vote and participate in campaign events. She said the union would target Colorado, Florida, Michigan, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia.

"NTEU chapters around the country are gearing up their efforts to help NTEU secure a 'pro-federal employee' president," Kelley said.

COMMENTS

• A working man that votes Republican is like a chicken voting for Col. Sanders... Cracked & Wired Posted July 17, 2008 11:24 AM
• For those that don’t have a clue: The Union’s job is not to “hold employees accountable” only to make sure that management, whose job it is, does it in a fair and consistent way; How was the Government during the Clinton years?...it was running a surplus, gas prices were not going through the roof, we weren’t involved in a war through lies and manipulation and the housing market along with the economy wasn’t tanking; The Union a single issue group!...I hope so, that’s what I pay them for; The Unions undermining the federal workers?...federal employees supporting the same conservatives who are outsourcing their jobs and cutting their pay (while at the same time protecting taxpayer robbing contractors) are more responsible for that. Stop listening to the “fair and balanced” news network and try opening your eyes and ears so you can think for yourself. It doesn’t hurt as much as you might imagine. Rick Posted July 17, 2008 10:39 AM
• Unions have my support and vote as well as the Democrat Party. After all, it has been the unions who have been fighting to put an end to the facist NSPS brought to us by non-other than Republican Rumsfeld and the corrupt White House. Was it not another Republican Administration who enacted FERs! how's that working out for everyone since 1986 and we were forced into the Las Vegas "Roll-The-Dice" 401K retirement system. Boy, the CSRS sure looks great right now Republicans and conservatives in general and by nature have always hated and loathed Unions to their own peril. However, historically the labor movement in this country is soley responsible for giving rise to the American middle class. Without labor....there is no Middle Class. Wake up folks, Republicans starting with Reagan have been at war with unions and the American middle class since 1981. Republican Administration won't rest until they turn the entire DOD into a Corporate Defense Contracting entity. Williamson Posted July 17, 2008 9:20 AM