The Strong Economy for All Coalition is a labor-union-backed coalition of left-of-center interest groups active in New York politics. Organizations that are members of the coalition include 1199 SEIU United Healthcare Workers East, Citizen Action of New York, Communications Workers of America (CWA), Make the Road New York, New York Communities for Change, New York State United Teachers (NYSUT), Retail, Wholesale, and Department Store Union (RWDSU), United Federation of Teachers (UFT), and 32BJ SEIU. ¹

It is notable for the Hedge Clippers campaign, an activist effort to attack financial-industry interests involved in education policy efforts. ²

Background

The Strong Economy for All Coalition, also known as Strong Economy for All, is a labor-union-backed coalition of left-wing interest groups active in New York politics. It was formed to campaign for keeping the “millionaire’s tax” in New York’s state budget. Now, as of 2022, the coalition continues to primarily focus on left-of-center ideas and campaigns for higher taxes. It is perhaps most notable for the Hedge Clippers campaign, an activist effort to attack financial industry interests involved in education policy efforts. ^{3 4 5}

Funding

The Strong Economy for All Coalition receives most of its revenue from contributions and grants. The coalition received a total of $771,200 in revenue during 2011, all of which came from contributions and grants. Strong Economy for All’s revenue fell between 2011 and 2019, when it received a total of $428,333 in revenue. It received slightly more in 2020 with a total revenue of $460,016. All of the organization’s revenue came in the form of contributions and grants. ^{6 7}

Strong Economy for All’s total expenses amounted to $764,036 in 2011. Its expenses decreased dramatically in 2019 with a total expense amount of $95,236 but increased again in 2020 when its total expenses amounted to $753,591. ^{8 9}

Political Activities

The Strong Economy for All Coalition created a campaign called Hedge Clippers to “expose the role of hedge fund and private equity billionaires in destroying the economy, corrupting government and politics and exploding inequality in America,” according to the coalition’s executive director Michael Kink. ¹⁰

Approximately 250 protesters associated with Hedge Clippers gathered outside of a fundraiser held by hedge fund billionaire Daniel Loeb and attended by then-New York Governor Andrew Cuomo (D) in 2015. According to reports, many of the protesters were teachers who were against Cuomo and Loeb’s support of charter schools in New York. ¹¹

Hedge Clippers has been criticized for its relationship with Strong Economy for All after it was criticized as a “front group” for New York’s teachers’ unions. According to the New York Post, it was noted that although Hedge Clippers claimed to target the leaders of hedge funds, it mainly focused on those that supported charter schools and other education policies opposed by teachers’ unions. Between 2011 and 2016 The United Federation of Teachers, New York State United Teachers, and the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) spent approximately $5.5 million on groups that work with Hedge Clippers, including around $2.3 million to the Strong Economy for All Coalition. ¹²

The executive director of the coalition, Michael Kink, was an employee of the United Federation of Teachers in 2016, and Hedge Clippers was based at the same address as the United Federation of Teachers that year. ¹³

Affiliated Organizations

The Strong Economy for All Coalition is comprised of multiple left-of-center interest groups active in New York politics. ¹⁴ These interest groups include:

• 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East is a union representing employees in pharmacies and drugstores. It is closely aligned with national, state, and city-level left-wing organizations and causes. It has been characterized as a “government union in all but name.” ^{15 16 17 18}
• Citizen Action of New York is a left-of-center voter mobilization group that orchestrates protests and demonstrations in favor of left-of-center causes. The organization is a branch of the national organization People’s Action, and through networks of community organizers can play a significant role in New York local politics. ¹⁹
• The Communications Workers of America (CWA) is a major national labor union that represents employees in the telecommunications, airline, journalism, and a handful of other industries. ^{20 21 22}
• Make the Road New York is a New York-based community organizing group focused on immigrant communities with ties to immigration expansion and labor union movements that receive substantial funding from government sources. It also had close ties to the administration of New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio(D) and other left-wing city leaders, including former Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito (D-Manhattan), dating back to before de Blasio’s mayoralty. ^{23 24}
• New York Communities for Change is a New York City-based labor and community organizing group. It has close ties to former Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) and former City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito (D-Manhattan). ²⁵
• New York State United Teachers (NYSUT) is a left-of-center labor union closely affiliated with the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), the National Education Association (NEA), and the AFL-CIO. ^{26 27}
• The Retail, Wholesale, and Department Store Union (RWDSU) is a labor union that is a semi-autonomous division of the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW). It has actively supported Democratic candidates in local and federal elections. ^{28 29}
• The United Federation of Teachers (UFT) is a government worker union representing schoolteachers in New York City. It is an affiliate of the national American Federation of Teacherslabor union as AFT Local 2 and the American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) and is one of the largest local unions in the nation. The union’s influence on schooling policy in New York City and state is substantial; the union, its political committees, and the New York State United Teachers state-level federation of which it is a part are one of the largest contributors (if not the largest outright) to the city’s and state’s dominant Democratic Party. ^{30 31}
• 32BJ SEIU is the nation’s largest union of property service workers and uses its influence to advocate for progressive policies and to support Democratic politicians.  One profile noted, “32BJ is involved in field services, contracts, grievances, community affairs, research, and legal aid. Its executives meet with city leaders and endorse political candidates.” ^{32 33}

The Strong Economy for All Coalition is also a member of ProsperUS, a coalition of left-of-center groups that advocates for increased government spending and investment in entitlement programs. It is a project of the left-of-center New Venture Fund (NVF), a funding and fiscal sponsorship nonprofit that makes grants to left-of-center advocacy and organizing projects. ³⁴

ProsperUS includes some of the most prominent left-leaning organizations in the United States, such as the Center for American Progress (CAP), the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), the TIME’S UP Foundation, the Communications Workers of America (CWA), Daily Kos, and Demos. ³⁵

People

Michael Kink is the executive director of the Strong Economy for All Coalition. Kink has been a legislative counsel for the Children’s Defense Fund, a left-of-center organization that works to increase the size of government and expand the welfare state, and Housing Works. Kink worked for the New York State Senate where he was the chief policy advisor and senior counsel to the Democratic majority conference and Senate leader. ³⁶

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3. Murphy, Sarah. “Community Groups and Unions Launch Strong Economy for All Coalition.” Coalition For The Homeless. March 9, 2011. Accessed August 8, 2022. www.coalitionforthehomeless.org/community-groups-and-unions-launch-strong-economy-for-all-coalition/.
4. “How We Can Pay For What We Need 2022.” Strong Economy for All Coalition. Accessed August 8, 2022. https://strongforall.org/campaigns/how-we-can-pay-for-what-we-need-in-2022/.
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23. “Car-wash owners hit bumpy ‘Road’.” Crain’s New York Business. May 23, 2014. Accessed August 8, 2022. crainsnewyork.com/article/20140525/POLITICS/140529917/car-wash-owners-hit-bumpy-road.
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33. Romero, Juan. “More Than Just Curb Appeal – Inside SEIU Local 32BJ.” CooperatorNews New York, The Co-op & Condo Monthly. July 27, 2022. Accessed August 8, 2022. cooperatornews.com/article/inside-seiu-local-32bj/full.
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