MacIver News Service | July 7, 2011
[Madison, Wisc…] A national labor union dumped $778 thousand into the We Are Wisconsin PAC just one week before recall elections take place, according to finance documents reviewed by the MacIver News Service.The AFL-CIO Committee on Political Education Treasury Account sent the money on Tuesday, July 5, according to Government Accountability Records.
This followed on the heels of another contribution from a Washington-based union. The “AFSCME – WI Special Account” sent $350 thousand to We Are Wisconsin on July 1.
With protests in Madison over the recent collective bargaining law waning, the unions’ have shifted their energy into the senate recall elections. Government employee unions want to recall six Republican senators, hoping to give Democrats control of that chamber. Although that would not be sufficient to undo the law, it could give liberals momentum as they seek to recall Republican Governor Scott Walker next year. Three of the 14 senate Democrats who fled the state earlier in the year in an ultimately unsuccessful attempt to block passage of the law are also facing recalls in the next few weeks.
First in a series of reports by the MacIver News Service