Unions provide enormous amounts of soft money and other contributions to liberal candidates.
Because of compulsory unionism, the unions are allowed to engage in politics without permission from their members, many of whom object to the candidates and issues supported by the leadership. Some say that this explains why vast fortunes of public money have been spent to improve education with little to show for it. Power An example of the power of teachers' unions in Massachusetts is seen in the law passed last year giving them substantial early retirement benefits. The law encourages massive numbers of early retirements at a time when the state is having trouble finding enough qualified teachers and is actually paying bonuses to encourage people to go into teaching. Almost all union political money goes to liberal Democrats despite the fact that about half of union members are not Democrats.