WASHINGTON, D.C. — Americans for Fair Treatment (AFFT) today released two new Where Do Your Union Dues Go? reports spotlighting union political and leadership ties to the Walz administration and the Minnesota Department of Education, whose inadequate oversight state auditors found “created opportunities for fraud” in the $250 million Feeding Our Future scandal.
The connection runs from union political committees that supported Tim Walz’s gubernatorial campaigns to Mary Cathryn Ricker, the former American Federation of Teachers executive vice president he selected to lead the department. Ricker previously spent nine years leading the St. Paul Federation of Teachers, an Education Minnesota affiliate.
“Union leaders celebrated the appointment of one of their own. Minnesota families deserved more than political connections. They deserved competent oversight of money meant to feed children,” said Chip Rogers, CEO of Americans for Fair Treatment. “Workers deserve to know who their unions bankroll. Taxpayers deserve to know why the government failed to protect their money.”
FROM UNION LEADERSHIP TO THE AGENCY IN CHARGE
When Walz announced Ricker’s nomination in December 2018, AFT President Randi Weingarten praised the choice:
“Gov.-elect Walz could not have chosen a better partner to strengthen Minnesota’s public schools.”
Ricker served as education commissioner from January 2019 through April 2021, covering part of the period examined in the state’s subsequent review of the department’s oversight of Feeding Our Future.
The June 2024 review by Minnesota’s Office of the Legislative Auditor documented serious failures. The department failed to act on warning signs, inadequately investigated complaints and even asked Feeding Our Future to investigate complaints about itself. Auditors found that some complaints went uninvestigated despite their frequency or seriousness.
“These were not minor paperwork problems. Auditors described an agency that failed to act on warning signs and relied on the organization it was supposed to oversee to investigate complaints about itself,” Rogers said. “Union leaders who celebrate their political influence should be prepared to answer hard questions about the performance of the officials they champion.”
FOLLOW THE POLITICAL MONEY
The two AFFT reports examine Education Minnesota and AFSCME Council 5, identifying more than $472,000 in combined direct contributions and independent expenditures supporting Walz’s gubernatorial campaigns: $244,277 in independent expenditures and $16,000 in direct contributions from Education Minnesota’s political committees, plus $211,991 in independent expenditures from AFSCME Council 5’s committees.
That support was part of a much larger political operation. Across the multiyear periods examined beginning in 2017, the reports identify $16.3 million in political contributions and independent expenditures through the unions’ political committees—more than 99.9% directed to Democratic candidates, party committees and liberal causes.
POLITICAL POWER. UNION PAYROLLS. WORKERS’ MONEY.
Beyond political spending, the reports reveal:
- $26.3 million for Education Minnesota’s employee compensation, benefits and payroll taxes. Approximately two-thirds of its spending in the fiscal year ending August 31, 2024. Fourteen employees received more than $200,000 each in total compensation.
- $65.7 million in Education Minnesota net assets: The union also held $40.3 million in publicly traded securities at that fiscal year’s end.
- $13.4 million from AFSCME Council 5 to affiliated organizations: Nearly half its fiscal year 2025 spending, alongside $600,000 contributed to the MN PEOPLE political fund.
“Workers deserve an honest accounting, not a political sales pitch,” Rogers said. “These reports let them follow the money, examine the connections and decide whether their union has earned their trust.”
Read the reports:
Education Minnesota — Where Do Your Union Dues Go?
AFSCME Council 5 — Where Do Your Union Dues Go?