SEIU spent $19M on Fight for $15

The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) poured $19 million into its effort to win support for a $15 federal minimum wage, according to a new analysis from a conservative organization.

The Center for Union Facts examined the 2016 financial disclosures the SEIU recently filed with the Labor Department, and discovered nearly $15 million paid to eight worker organizing committees championing the minimum wage push across the country.

Another $1.7 million was paid to BerlinRosen, a New York-based public relations company, according to the SEIU’s financial disclosures.

{mosads}Along with other payments to various organizations, the SEIU spent about $19 million on groups advocating for the Fight for $15, according to the analysis.

This accounts for nearly 10 percent of the SEIU’s net assets.

CUF came to this figure by analyzing 14 payments made to organizations that it claims participated in the Fight for $15.

In 2016, the SEIU’s membership increased by more than 13,000 workers, as the Fight for $15 won minimum wage increases for nearly 12 million low-wage workers. But some of the pay hikes amount to less than $15 an hour.

“Today, working people are struggling to provide for their families in a system where the rules are rigged to favor corporations over working families,” an SEIU spokesperson told The Hill.

“We won’t stop until all working people have the opportunity to join together in unions.”

The Center for Union Facts argued the SEIU is bleeding money in fighting the issue. 

“While the SEIU has scored some legislative victories, the union continues to bleed money,” said Richard Berman, executive director of the Center for Union Facts.