SEIU withholds dues info from director
A member of political power player union SEIU 503's board of directors asked for information about member dues; the union said no.
Home care worker and SEIU 503 board member Avery Horton. (Photo provided by Avery Horton, background AI generated to fit image size).
Sevice Employee International Union 503, the powerful public employee union closely tied to Oregon Governor Tina Kotek, is refusing to provide information about member dues to a member of its own board of directors who questions the union’s growing political focus and influence, according to emails obtained by Oregon Roundup Foundation.
In February, a staff person for SEIU 503, an Oregon “local” for the sprawling SEIU International union, told Avery Horton, a home care provider in Bandon and member of SEIU 503’s board of directors, the union would not provide him the amount of dues paid to SEIU 503 by the approximately 18,000 home care workers represented by the union. “The Union does not have an obligation to compile the information you have requested, and as previously stated, that information is not in our budgeting and financial reporting documents,” Emily Gothard, Paralegal Specialist for SEIU 503, wrote Horton February 12.
Horton told Oregon Roundup Foundation he wants the dues information because he believes SEIU 503 misprioritizes spending of member dues, and “home care doesn’t get its money’s worth, in my opinion.” Horton points to payments from SEIU 503 to SEIU International and to Our Oregon, a progressive political organization that recently sought to recruit SEIU 503 members to surveil signature gathering by anti-transportation tax opponents. Our Oregon employed Ben Unger as its executive director from around 2014 to 2018. Melissa Unger, Ben’s sister, is executive director for SEIU 503, and previously served the union as a political advisor. Melissa Unger was board secretary for Our Oregon at the time. Federal filings show SEIU 503 paid over $600,000 to Our Oregon for political activities in 2023 and 2024.
Oregon Roundup Foundation contacted the spokesperson for SEIU 503 via email yesterday seeking comment for this story. The spokesperson did not respond by the publication deadline.
SEIU 503 collects dues from approximately 45,000 Oregon workers, scattered across state agencies, local governments, nursing homes and home care worker agencies. Home care workers are hired by seniors or people with disabilities to provide in-home care, but are paid with Medicaid funds from the state, overseen by the Oregon Home Care Commission. Horton told Oregon Roundup Foundation some 18,000 home care workers pay dues to SEIU 503.
SEIU 503’s bylaws and federal law guarantee members access to financial and other union information. In a section of the bylaws called “Member Bill of Rights,” SEIU 503 tells its members they have “the right to a full accounting of union dues and the proper stewardship over union resources[.]” In her email to Horton, SEIU 503 paralegal Gothard wrote, “A full accounting of union dues is published in the union’s annual LM-2 report.” That report, filed with the U.S. Department of Labor, shows the union collected over $32 million in “dues and agency fees” in 2024, the most recent report publicly available, but does not break down dues received from home care workers versus other union members.
The federal Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act (LMRDA) provides union members the right to inspect union records to verify union financial reports submitted to the federal government, so long as the member has just cause. LMRDA also requires members of the union’s board of directors to oversee finances, prevent misuse of dues and make informed decisions. Directors who fail to exercise those fiduciary duties face liability. Courts commonly provide directors with access to information needed to fulfill their fiduciary duties.
Oregon laws governing nonprofit corporations provide members and directors with additional rights to information and records. SEIU 503 was organized as an Oregon nonprofit corporation until 2017, when, according to Oregon Secretary of State records, it reorganized as an unincorporated nonprofit association, which is not subject to Oregon nonprofit corporation laws.
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.
Kotek’s wife, Aimee Kotek Wilson, was formerly a lobbyist for SEIU 503. Kotek’s former Chief of Staff, Andrea Cooper, was the union’s political director. The union endorsed Kotek for Governor in 2022 and again this year.
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.