The Center for Union Facts (CUF) is a right-of-center advocacy organization that supports workers’ rights and transparency and accountability in labor unions. CUF campaigns against the abuse of power by some union officials, such as corruption, violence, and misuse of union dues. The Center for Union Facts supports the rights of employees to choose to participate in unions or opt out of participation without intimidation. ¹

Activities

The Center for Union Facts acts as a watchdog of labor union activities, with a focus on labor unions’ efforts to suppress workers’ rights and political activities. CUF maintains a searchable database, with content sourced from government databases, that includes public information on America’s labor unions like officers’ salaries, financial data, corruption charges, and membership data. Additionally, CUF provides resources to workers regarding opting out of union participation. ²

The Center for Union Facts advocates for the Employee Rights Act (ERA), a series of proposed changes to federal regulation of labor unions. CUF maintains the website EmployeeRightsAct.com in order to educate the public on the key provisions of the ERA, ³ including the right to secret paper ballot election to confirm an exclusive bargaining representative, opt-out permission for employees who do not want their dues used for political purposes, and forbidding unions from using threats and violence to coerce employees. ⁴

The Center for Union Facts maintains the blog LaborPains.org in conjunction with the Enterprise Freedom Action Committee. A blog post, from March 2, 2022, claims that under the Biden Administration, the National Labor Relations Board will likely further restrict speech for employers in regards to unions; continue the use of mail-in and electronic voting, which is more susceptible to ballot harvesting; and continue the use of card-check union organizing procedures instead of secret ballot elections. ⁵

Funding

The Center for Union Facts is funded by donations from individuals, foundations, and corporations. While CUF does not disclose its donors, tax filings confirm donations from the Mercer Family Foundation ($150,000 in 2017), ⁶ the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation ($125,000 in 2015), ⁷ and the National Philanthropic Trust ($100,000 in 2017). ⁸

People

Richard “Rick” Berman is the president and executive director of the Center for Union Facts. ⁹ Berman is the president of Berman and Company, a public affairs firm based in Washington, D.C., ¹⁰ and the president and executive director of the Center for Organizational Research and Education, whose projects include the Center for Consumer Freedom, Humane Watch, the Center for Accountability in Science, and Activist Facts. ¹¹

Craig Brightup is a national lobbyist for Cotney Attorneys and Consultants and CEO of the Brightup Group. Brightup is a founding member of E Street Partners and formerly worked as the vice president of government relations for the National Roofing Contractors Association and as head of congressional relations for the Federal Trade Commission. ¹² As of 2019, he was a director of CUF. ¹³

Jordan Bruneau is the communications director at the Steamboat Institute ¹⁴ and a policy analyst for the Economic Freedom Project at the California Policy Center. ¹⁵ As of 2019, Bruneau was a director of CUF. ¹⁶ He formerly worked as a communications director at Berman and Company and a research analyst at the Charles Koch Institute. ¹⁷

Other board members as of 2019 include secretary and treasurer William Tattersall, Richard Klemp, and Ronald Petty. ¹⁸

1. “About Us.” Center for Union Facts, 2022. Accessed March 2, 2022. https://www.unionfacts.com/article/about-us/.
2.  “About Us.” Center for Union Facts, 2022. Accessed March 2, 2022. https://www.unionfacts.com/article/about-us/.
3.   ^[1] “About Us.” Center for Union Facts, 2022. Accessed March 2, 2022. https://www.unionfacts.com/article/about-us/.
4. “Home.” Employees Right Act, 2022. Accessed March 4, 2022. https://employeerightsact.com/
5. ^[1] “Home.” Labor Pains, 2022. Accessed March 4, 2022. https://laborpains.org/.
6. Mercer Family Foundation, Return of Private Foundation (Form 990-PF), 2017, Part XV, Line 3a.
7. Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation, Return of Private Foundation (Form 990-PF), 2015, Part XV, Line 3a.
8. National Philanthropic Trust, Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990), 2017, Schedule I, Part II.
9. “About Us.” Center for Union Facts, 2022. Accessed March 2, 2022. https://www.unionfacts.com/article/about-us/.
10. “About Us.” Center for Consumer Freedom, 2022. Accessed March 4, 2022. https://www.consumerfreedom.com/about/.
11. “Home.” Center for Organizational Research and Education, 2022. Accessed March 4, 2022. https://coreprojects.com/.
12. “Craig Brightup.” Cotney, LLP, 2022. Accessed March 4, 2022. https://www.cotneycl.com/professionals/craig-brightup/.
13. Center for Union Facts, Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990), 2019, Part VII, Section A, Line 1a.
14. ^[1] “Jordan Bruneau.” The Steamboat Institute, 2022. Accessed March 4, 2022. https://www.steamboatinstitute.org/person/jordan-bruneau/.
15. ^[1] “Jordan Bruneau.” California Policy Center, 2022. Accessed March 4, 2022. https://californiapolicycenter.org/people/jordan-bruneau-2/.
16. Center for Union Facts, Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990), 2019, Part VII, Section A, Line 1a.
17. “Jordan Bruneau.” LinkedIn, 2022. Accessed March 4, 2022. https://www.linkedin.com/in/jordan-bruneau-0b23a220/.
18.  Center for Union Facts, Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990), 2019, Part VII, Section A, Line 1a.