IGX

since the mid-nineties, the MEA's parent union, the National Education Association, has claimed on its federal tax forms that it hasn't spent a single dollar on politics, even while it participated in Democratic Party steering committees, campaigns, and get-out-the-vote drives. Political action committee (PAC) contributions are a small part of the union political effort, but even in that one area unions have a huge impact, with six of the top 12 PACs nationwide being run by various labor unions.

Rutgers University economist Leo Troy estimated in 1996 that for every dollar of publicly acknowledged PAC contributions, unions spend 3 to 5 dollars in soft-money and in-kind political contributions, which are much more difficult to track.

By law, workers are entitled to a refund of their share of political expenditures if they wish it, thanks to the Beck case described earlier. In practice, however, the unions' ability to disguise political spending means that getting a full refund requires a herculean effort few workers are willing to endure. Typically, those workers who successfully pursue a refund will receive about 20 percent of his or her dues. Sometimes even that requires litigation