Why Would a Midwest Union Local Support Two Generally Anti-Union Republicans in Governors' Races? -- Part I

A BUZZFLASH NEWS ANALYSIS -- PART I

BuzzFlash is, needless to say, a partisan publication on behalf of advocates of democracy and Constitutional principles. We have championed progressive causes for the nearly seven years that we have been online, including the right to unionize men and women in an effort to improve their lives.

However, that being said, not all unions are the same. Indeed, the union movement is going through a turbulent period, after being victimized by the anti-union juggernaut that began under Reagan and has only accelerated. On top of that, a small percentage of unions has had to cope with long-term entrenched leadership that has become a bit like Rove’s dream of perpetual Republican Party rule.

The President and Business Manager of Local 150 and 2nd International Vice President of the IUOE is William "Bill" E. Dugan, who earns more than $275,000 a year in gross salary from the Local and International Union, plus a lifetime of benefits including health insurance.

Dugan has headed Local 150 for some 20 years, and that is where the exploration of controversies surrounding Local 150 begins.

Most Americans, especially Republicans, think of union leaders as Democratic partisans. But with the defection of the Teamsters to Nixon a few decades back, a small number of union leaders began to flirt openly with Republicans.

Bill Dugan is one of them. Not that the large Local 150 PAC has abandoned Democrats, but Dugan has led the Local in supporting a long list of Republicans – many of them with anti-labor records according to Local 150 dissidents -- in the three-state area that Local 150 encompasses.

Some would argue, as Dugan has, that supporting Republicans is sometimes good insurance for a union. That may or may not be a successful strategy. But Dugan made much of Local 150, at his urging (and despite much apparent internal Local discontent), supporting former senior Bush White House official Mitch Daniels for Governor of Indiana (an office he won), only to be rewarded with a highly questionable "gift."

As Daniels' first act in office, he disbanded unions and collective bargaining for public employees in the state of Indiana. And the anti-union record of Daniels is clear, despite a contentious token bone he tossed Dugan's way, say Local 150 leadership critics (a pre-apprenticeship program that is affiliated with a firm -- called ABC -- whose goal is to replace union workers with non-unon workers, support right to work laws, and oppose Project Labor Agreements.)

Dugan claims that by having Local 150 be the only big union to support Daniels, billions of dollars in road construction money will be allocated from the sale of the Indiana Tollway. But opponents argue that the new Tollway owner will, itself, not be required to pay prevailing wage or employ union workers. Furthermore, the billions of dollars for road construction in the Hoosier state to employ Local 150 workers remains largely an unfulfilled campaign promise.

In 2006, Dugan threw some $350,000 dollars of the Local’s PAC money (according to the Local 150 opposition slate) into backing Illinois Republican candidate for Governor, Judy Barr Topinka, against pro-labor Democrat, Rod Blagojevich. Topinka lost in a landslide, even with additional in-kind help (foot soldiers from the Local who worked on her behalf at the request of Dugan).

What made Dugan’s financially bountiful support of Topinka especially odd for a labor union was that she was both an underdog and had a largely anti-labor record when she served in the Illinois State Legislature. Why would a union president throw such a large sum of PAC dollars taken out of the dues of his members down the electoral tubes for a Republican candidate who wasn’t -- on a relative basis -- pro-labor, in lieu of an incumbent Democratic candidate for Governor who was -- and who had a pro-labor Democratic State House to work with?

Some Local 150 members who are running an opposition campaign to replace Dugan make the accusation that Dugan wanted to receive appointments to state boards, as he did under previous Republican Governors in Illinois. Some of the local members charge that Topinka's high NRA rating and Illinois State Rifle Association endorsement help explain Dugan’s enthusiasm for Topinka, despite the long odds that she faced. (We will return to the alleged "smoking gun connection" in Part II of this BuzzFlash News Analysis.)

Dugan, as we have noted, has maintained that being bi-partisan in contributions (which is not uncommon among lobbying organizations) is a good investment for the union. He has vigorously disputed both claims. And, unlike with Daniels, this time Local 150 wasn't the only union to endorse the Republican candidate for governor, but it certainly distinguished itself by its lavish financial and in-kind support for a long shot.

Yet, back in 1990, among only two or three federal campaign checks that could be traced through online federal election donation records, Bill Dugan contributed $200 to the campaign of racist, anti-Semite David Duke in his bid to become a U.S. Senator from Louisiana.

Why would a Local 150 Union President in Chicago, if we assume the records are accurate, contribute to David Duke as one of only two candidates to receive personal federal campaign contributions? (The other was to a congressional candidate in Maryland, where Dugan has a bison ranch – and owns a gun shop and tavern.)

It’s a good question. Why would anyone make a contribution to Duke (having since, by the way, served time for a felony, and most recently seen attending a Holocaust denial conference in Iran)?

Well maybe these two photos taken in 1998 by a Local 150 member while hunting at Dugan’s Maryland Buffalo Farm might explain the Duke check.

Just look at the flag flying high on the Maryland home of William Dugan.

It’s just one part of the "This is Still Bill Dugan Country" empire.

Note: This two-part BuzzFlash news analysis was written with the input of advocates for laws that benefit unions, for opposing the politics of David Duke, and for reducing gun violence.

(Some of the source material for this BuzzFlash analysis came from the following websites.)

Website for Local 150 Union Members challenging Bill Dugan:

http://www.150election.com/welcome.htm

Website for "This is Still Bill Dugan Country," his Local 150 campaign website:

http://www.150united.com/index.php

A BUZZFLASH NEWS ANALYSIS -- PART I