From JPL’s Website: Union Financials

What They Wrote

Our Response

UAW’s primary source of income is dues and fees from members.

Yes, the UAW is solely supported by dues or fees paid by members. UAW functions, as its local chapters, as a democratic organization in which each member of the international union has a vote to influence the larger organization’s decisions. Approximately 31% of the dues paid at a local chapter typically go to the international organization. An additional 29% of the dues go into a strike & defense fund that supports workers if their wages are withheld during a strike. A substantial part of the strike fund is refunded to the local union in case no strike occurs. Dues provide independent resources to ensure that we have power to win and enforce a contract and go towards the day-to-day costs of having a union, including the salaries of organizers providing logistical and strategic support to workers forming unions, legal support, strike pay to help workers pay for rent and other expenses if they choose to strike, etc.

Each year UAW is required to file a document called an “LM-2,” which reports the union’s most recent financial flow. UAW’s LM-2 Report filed in 2025 shows that the union collected more than $299 million in cash receipts.

    Unions are required to be transparent about their finances and their finances are publicly visible to anyone who wants to look. The same cannot be said for the ability of JPL Workers to see the finances of JPL, which are ostensibly the basis for the layoffs and other policy changes. UAW members pride themselves on this type of transparency. Of the $299 million, over $218 million were received as “per-capita tax”, which are drawn from the dues paid by union members. These dues represent the contributions of over 400,000 workers across the country who only started paying these dues after a majority of them voted for a contract they deemed to be worthy of paying these dues.

      UAW Spending - $308 Million

      The chart below breaks down how UAW spent $308,874,896. UAW spent $9.1 million more than the union collected in 2024.

      This is again a great example of the type of transparency that is legally required of unions and accessible to JPL workers, that is not accessible to us when it comes to JPL’s own financial decisions.

      UAW Officials - $70 Million

      The union paid $70,447,338 for the combined salaries and expenses of its officers and employees.

      UAW-affiliated unions currently have 1750 contracts in the United States with over 1000 employers. Officers are democratically elected by UAW members - in other words, we would get to choose who represents us. This contrasts with the organization at JPL, we have no say over who is in leadership. As a large organization of workers representing themselves, democratically-elected UAW officers employ organizers who support workers trying to form unions, political lobbyists who represent issues supporting workers in government, lawyers who support contract enforcement and negotiations, and administrators who help the organization function. Giving these workers a living wage and benefits costs the $70 million dollars mentioned here, and directly benefits workers like us. The dues of other UAW members are currently supporting our organizing effort. All of this information is publicly available on the LM2 that management linked on their website.