April 2, 2010: The Teamsters Union, like all major unions, raises voluntary political donations from members (the DRIVE program), and uses the resources to inform voters and influence legislative and regulatory measures affecting Teamster members.

Unions can never match corporate money, but do spend a fair amount. The best bang for our buck is when our union mobilizes members to join in campaigns to protect our pensions and pass laws to protect workers’ rights.

Do you want to know where the Teamster money goes?

You can look-up which candidates got DRIVE funds in each election cycle here.

You can learn a little about Teamster lobbying efforts here.

This same website can help you learn about corporate money and its vast influence, and the “revolving door” between key government officers and the lobbyists and consultants.

This information is compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics (CRP), which is a nonpartisan research group based in Washington, D.C. that tracks money in politics and the effect of money and lobbying activity on elections and public policy.

Teamsters for a Democratic Union (TDU) is the reform movement of Teamsters working to make our union stronger and more democratic. TDU does not endorse political candidates office in federal, state or local elections.