Major Union Behind The $15 An Hour Campaign Slashes 2018 Budget By 30%, Blames The 'Far Right'

The Service Employees International Union isn't looking forward to a bright 2017 and beyond.

The massive union represents around two million government, health care and building-services workers. It is behind a push for a $15 an hour minimum wage. In an internal memo obtained by Bloomberg Businessweek, the union now needs to slash its operating budget by 10 percent as of the start of 2017 with plans for a 30 percent reduction in 2018.

The memo cited the "the right" who will control all three branches of the federal government next year, which poses "serious threats to the ability of working people to join together in unions."

"These threats require us to make tough decisions that allow us to resist these attacks and to fight forward despite dramatically reduced resources," the memo added.

By no means is the union small; rather, it is the country's second largest union and perhaps the most politically significant with an annual budget of $300 million.

The Union And Politics

The union enjoyed a cozy relationship with President Barack Obama, helped pass the Affordable Care Act and publicly supported Hillary Clinton in her bid to win the race to the White House. Accordingly, the union is expecting its relationship with President-elect Donald Trump won't be as close.

As an example, under Trump's presidency, the Supreme Court could cast an unfavorable vote for the union relating to a 2014 case that ruled making government-funded home health aides pay union fees violates the First Amendment. It is then possible the conclusion will be applied to all government employees.

"As we prepare to fight-back against the forthcoming attacks on working people and our communities under an extremist-run government, we know we must realign our resources and streamline our investments to buttress and broaden our movement to restore economic and democratic opportunity for all families," Sahar Wali, a union spokesperson told Bloomberg. "As part of this process, we are currently looking at possible ways to improve our budgets."

Image Credit: "Protest demanding a $15-hr minimum wage moves into Coffman Memorial Union." By Fibonacci Blue from Minnesota, USA [CC BY 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons