The National Public Pension Commission (NPPC) is a labor-union-aligned left-of-center advocacy group which supports maintaining and expanding pension programs for government employees. The organization oversees a network of 15 state-level nonprofits and publishes research on the benefits of public pensions.

The NPCC has close ties to numerous prominent government worker and other labor unions that support Democratic candidates, including the American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), and National Education Association (NEA). Its board officers are officers of major national labor unions and its senior staff include alumni of major labor unions.

Programs

State Network

The NPCC presides over a coalition of 15 nonprofits which advocate for pensions for government-worker union employees at the state and local levels. The coalition members are:¹

• Arizona Retirement Security Coalition
• Protect Retirement Security for Californians
• Colorado Coalition for Retirement Security
• Connecticut Coalition for Retirement Security
• Iowa Coalition for Retirement Security
• Keeping the Kansas Promise
• Kentucky Public Pension Coalition
• Louisiana Public Pension Coalition
• Coalition for Secure Retirement – Michigan
• Missouri Retirement Security Coalition
• New Hampshire Retirement Security Coalition
• Keep Oklahoma’s Promise
• Keep Oregon’s Promise
• Texas Pension Coalition
• Wyoming Coalition for the Healthy Retirement

Targeting John Arnold

The NPPC jointly runs a special project with Californians for Retirement Security to oppose billionaire philanthropist and businessman John Arnold. Arnold was an Enron trader who left the company before its collapse to launch a successful career as a Wall Street trader and become America’s second-youngest billionaire. ²

Arnold has spent $50 million on a nationwide campaign to reform government employee pensions. NPPC tracks Arnold’s donations across 16 states, most of which went to universities and think tanks like the Brookings Institution, the Mercatus Center, and the California Foundation for Fiscal Responsibilities. ³

Leadership

The National Public Pension Coalition is led by individuals who run some of the most prominent unions in America and have long careers with labor-based left-of-center nonprofits. ⁴ Many of the associated unions are donors to the NPPC, and the NPPC also donates to the state-level and coalition members of the unions.

Bridget Early

Executive director Bridget Early has been involved in labor activism for over ten years. Her career started as an intern for Congressman Philip Hare (D-IL) after college. Later, she worked as a Midwest political coordinator for the United Food and Commercial Workers, the sixth-largest union and a member of the AFL-CIO. From 2011-2014, Early served as a Program Associate and then the Chicago program director for Working America, the ‘community affiliate’ of the AFL-CIO focused on advocacy for non-union workers. She then transferred to the Chicago Federation of Labor, a coalition of Chicago-based unions, as the director of political affairs. Early left after over four years to become the executive director of the NPPC in 2018. ⁵

Bailey Childers

Former executive director Bailey Childers has an extensive career in Democratic politics and left-of-center political strategy. During college, Childers worked for the presidential campaign of John Kerry, and after graduating, she became a regional field organizer for the Democratic National Committee. After a year at the Progressive Majority PAC as a national training manager, Childers campaigned for presidential candidate Hillary Clinton in Iowa. After the election, Childers briefly worked as director of outreach for Women’s Voices, Women’s Vote, a voter mobilization group. ⁶

In 2009, Childers shifted away from campaign work to strategy. She began working as a political action representative for AFSCME, the largest non-teacher government union in America. Four years later, Childers became a state strategies manager at the Center on Budget and Policies Priority, a left-of-center think tank which analyzes how government expenditure impacts low-income individuals. ⁷ While working there, she also ran voter mobilization efforts for “We Are Ohio” and “We Are Wisconsin,” campaigns to support maintaining government worker unions’ collective bargaining privileges. ⁸ Childers late became the executive director of the NPPC. She left the organization in 2018 to work in the government relations department at H&R Block, the tax services company. ⁹

AFSCME is a donor to the NPPC. In 2016, the union gave the group $164,000. ¹⁰

The NPPC also donates to numerous state-level AFSCME organizations. In 2017, the NPPC gave $10,000 to AFSCME Council 72, $20,000 to AFSCME IN-KY Organizing Committee 72, and $23,000 to Oregon AFSCME. ¹¹

Randi Weingarten

Randi Weingarten, the president of NPPC’s board, is the president of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT). She has been a union executive for 30 years and is one of the nation’s most prominent left-of-center activists. She began working for the United Federation of Teachers (UFT), the New York City public schoolteachers’ union, in 1986 out of college. ¹² Weingarten climbed the union’s ranks while sporadically working as a teacher until she became president in 1999. ¹³ In 2008, Weingarten was elected president of the AFT, the national parent organization of the UFT. ¹⁴ Under her leadership, the AFT dramatically increased its political spending and became a major Democratic Party influencer. ¹⁵

Harold Schaitberger

NPPC first-vice president Harold Schaitberger is the president of the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) and has been a union executive for over fifty years. Schaitberger began working as a firefighter in the mid-1960s. In 1976, he was elected as the president of a local chapter of the IAFF. Schaitberger became the chief of staff of the organization’s general president in 1988, and then succeeded him in 2000. ¹⁶ Like Weingarten, Schaitberger also greatly increased his union’s political spending and made it a major Democratic Party influencer. ¹⁷

The NPPC is a donor to the IAFF’s member unions. In 2017, the NPPC gave $23,000 to the Professional Firefighters of New Hampshire. ¹⁸

Richard Trumka

Second-vice president Richard Trumka is the president of the AFL-CIO, the largest federation of unions in the US and one of the largest financial supporters of Democratic candidates. Trumpka began working in mining in the 1960s. He became a staff attorney for the United Mine Workers of America, and rose to lead the union in 1982. ¹⁹ 13 years later, Trumka was elected the treasury secretary of the AFL-CIO, and then president of the organization in 2000. ²⁰

The AFL-CIO is a donor to the NPPC. In 2016, the union gave $80,000. ²¹

The NPPC also donates to numerous state-level AFL-CIO organizations. In 2017, the NPPC gave $29,800 to Texas AFL-CIO and $40,000 to Louisiana AFL-CIO. ²²

Lily Eskelsen Garcia

Fourth-vice president Lily Eskelsen Garcia is the president of the NEA, the largest labor union in America. Garcia was a teacher in Utah for ten years when she was elected the head of the Utah Education Association through write-in votes. In 1996, Garcia joined the NEA’s executive committee, and by 2014 she was elected president of the organization. ²³ Garcia continued the NEA’s policy of donating large sums to Democratic candidates and left-of-center causes. ²⁴

The NEA is a donor to the NPPC. In 2015, the union gave $160,000. ²⁵

Heather Conroy

Treasurer Heather Conroy is the executive vice president of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). Conroy began working for the union in 1997 and worked her way up until she was elected to her current position in 2016. ²⁶ SEIU is also a major contributor to Democratic campaigns. ²⁷

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