When a corporate executive steals from shareholders, it makes national headlines.
When a government official steals from taxpayers, there are calls for investigations and reform.
But when union officials steal from the workers they claim to represent, the reaction is often little more than a shrug.
That should concern every worker in America.
In recent weeks alone, a former postal workers union treasurer in Ohio was sentenced after investigators found she had written and cashed 51 unauthorized checks to herself. Samantha Zirkle embezzled nearly $65,000 from members through dozens of unauthorized transactions.
In Arkansas, a firefighters union president is accused of taking $50,000 from a union account and using the money to gamble at a casino. Investigators say surveillance footage and bank records tied Sharonne Kiwan Norwood to the withdrawals. He has pleaded not guilty.
In Colorado, a former vice president of a law enforcement union pleaded guilty to felony theft after diverting $17,000 in union funds to his personal account. Jason Hanratty was an 18-year veteran of the Pueblo County Sheriff’s Office.
Together, these cases involve more than $130,000 in theft from workers’ dues.
Three states. Three unions. Three different groups of workers.
In each case, officials entrusted with safeguarding worker dues were accused or convicted of treating those funds as their own. Every dollar stolen by a corrupt official is a dollar taken from a teacher, firefighter, police officer, nurse, or public employee who earned it through hard work.
So why do some union officials believe they can get away with it?
Workers often have little visibility into how their dues are spent. Union financial disclosures are difficult to find and even harder for the average worker to understand. Leadership elections frequently attract low participation. Many members assume someone else is watching.
Too often, nobody is.
That creates an environment where bad actors can treat union coffers like a personal checking account until they are finally caught.
Meanwhile, union leaders routinely argue they need more money from workers. And workers are increasingly questioning whether union leaders are spending their money in ways that reflect members’ priorities.
Members of the Chicago Teachers Union recently rejected a proposal to increase dues to help fund the union’s growing political activities. Roughly 60 percent of voting members opposed the increase, signaling that many workers want a greater say in how their money is collected and spent.
Shortly after the vote, Chicago Teachers Union President Stacy Davis Gates joined a delegation to Vatican City to meet Pope Leo XIV. The timing of the trip highlighted a growing disconnect between union leaders seeking more money and members who had just voted against paying more.
Workers deserve transparency and clear accounting of where their money goes, along with meaningful oversight of the organizations funded by their dues.
They also deserve the freedom to decide whether a union has earned their support.
That’s why we’re highlighting legislation like Iowa Senate File 472, championed by Iowa State Senator Adrian Dickey. The legislation requires public-sector unions to obtain affirmative consent from workers before deducting union dues from their paychecks and to renew that authorization on a regular basis. Workers must actively opt in rather than being treated as automatic revenue sources. The measure strengthens transparency, reinforces worker choice, and ensures unions maintain the support of the people whose paychecks fund them.
Organizations that serve their members well have nothing to fear from accountability. Accountability strengthens trust. It forces leaders to remain responsive to the people they represent.
Union members deserve the same protections, transparency, and financial safeguards that shareholders expect from corporations and taxpayers expect from government.
When union officials steal from workers, it should never be dismissed as just another local scandal. It is a betrayal of trust.
And the real question isn’t why these officials stole.
It’s why a system funded by workers too often lacks the accountability workers deserve.