SEIU Director: union signature snooping "deplorable"
Board member for public employee union says "SEIU is money in Tina Kotek's pocket" as union asks members to report on gas tax repeal signature gathering for possible legal challenge
A new mural on the SEIU 503 headquarter building in NE Portland. (Photo courtesy SEIU 503)
A board member for Service Employee International Union 503 called the influential public employee union’s urging members to observe and report on signature gatherers for an anti-gas tax referendum a “deplorable” effort “asking members to seek out and report on those using their constitutional right to disagree with government choice,” in a statement Wednesday to Oregon Roundup Foundation.
SEIU 503, perhaps the closest and most influential political ally to Governor Tina Kotek, last week distributed to members an email that says it is “closely watching what No Tax Oregon is doing to ensure they will be held accountable to follow the law.” No Tax Oregon is the political action committee formed by tax opponents to put the tax repeal on the ballot.
The union email links to a Google form urging members to “OBSERVE & RECORD, ASK and REPORT BACK” to the union regarding signature gathering techniques used by tax opponents. which will increase by $4.3 billion the amount Oregon takes from its residents and businesses over the next 10 years.
Questions SEIU 503 urges members to ask gas tax signature gatherers in a Google form obtained by Oregon Roundup Foundation.
In an interview, the SEIU 503 board member, Charlotte Kreftmeyer of Ontario, told Oregon Roundup Foundation union leadership did not inform her of the union’s plan to deploy its members to keep tabs on signature gatherers. She said she was unaware of it until Oregon Roundup Foundation provided Kreftmeyer a copy of the forms distributed to members by SEIU 503.
Screenshot of SEIU 503’s board of directors page.
SEIU 503 boasted $43 million in assets in its 2024 report to the Labor Department. It reported over $11 million in income, most from dues from state and local government employees. It spent a similar amount, including $790,000 on explicitly political activities and lobbying and $4.2 million on “representational activities.”
The union donated $1.7 million to Kotek’s 2022 campaign, in which she bested Republican Christine Drazan and independent Betsy Johnson, the largest amount the union has ever given a candidate, according to OPB.
“SEIU is money in Tina Kotek’s pocket,” Kreftmeyer told Oregon Roundup Foundation.
No Tax Oregon, meanwhile, has raised some $165,000 to support the tax repeal, and says it does not pay its signature gatherers.
The information SEIU 503 seeks to gather from its members about the signature gathering effort mirrors Oregon election laws that strictly govern signature gathering. The SEIU form asks members to let it know what color paper signature gatherers are using, and whether they’re wearing name badges.
SEIU 503 has not responded to Oregon Roundup Foundation’s Thanksgiving Day request for comment for this story by publication.
Oregon Roundup Foundation created this article. ORF is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation dedicated to covering Oregon political and government news. Media outlets are welcome to use this article for free with attribution of the author and Oregon Roundup Foundation.