Ann Twomey is a left-of-center labor leader who founded and was previously president of the Health Professionals and Allied Employees (HPAE), a labor union in New Jersey and Pennsylvania that claims to represent health care workers. Twomey also worked as a vice president for the left-of-center American Federation of Teachers (AFT), one of the largest labor unions in the United States. ¹

In 2014, Twomey was sued by HPAE members who alleged that she had steered more than $1 million of union funds to her longtime boyfriend. ² In 2017, a judge granted Twomey summary judgment in her favor on some of the claims against her and the union. ³

Political Advocacy

Ann Twomey has a long history of supporting Democratic causes and candidates. She expressed support for former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton during her failed 2016 presidential campaign. Twomey claimed that Secretary Clinton did women “a great service” with her political career. In the same interview, Twomey claimed that former President Donald Trump had “no qualification or credentials.” ⁴

Twomey has also donated large sums to left-of-center and labor aligned organizations. In 2004, she donated $500 to America Coming Together, a liberal PAC founded to prevent the election of former President George W. Bush. She also donated $4,480 between 2009 and 2016 to the AFL-CIO Committee on Political Education, a political committee affiliated with the AFL-CIO that endorses almost exclusively Democratic candidates for public office. ⁶

Twomey released a statement in 2018 regarding the Republican repeal of parts of the Affordable Care Act (commonly known as the ACA or Obamacare). Twomey claimed in her statement that the move by Republicans in Congress was a “set of tax breaks for the very wealthy,” calling the initiative “unacceptable and irresponsible.” Twomey also organized country-wide “candlelight vigils” to protest the move, alongside left-of-center organizations including Citizen Action New Jersey, the New Jersey affiliate of the now-defunct, far-left voter mobilization organization Citizen Action. ^{7 8}

Labor Advocacy

Twomey was formerly the executive director for Health Professionals and Allied Employees (HPAE), a labor union in New Jersey and Pennsylvania that claims to represent health care workers. She is a former member of the board of trustees for New Jersey Citizen Action, a left-of-center voter mobilization organization. The organization has worked alongside HPAE to organize several labor-related protests and events. ⁹

Twomey is a vice president of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), one of the largest and most political labor unions in the United States. She is a member of the AFT Human Rights and Community Relations Committee, a group within AFT that researches and releases left-of-center press releases on issues such as immigration, race, and gender. ¹⁰

Twomey is also a columnist for the Observer, a left-of-center opinion news outlet. Her articles often cover labor and health care issues. In her time with the Observer, Twomey has promulgated the theory of the alleged gender wage-gap, opposed the private health care market, and endorsed other left-of-center labor leaders. She has also written in support of other more general left-of-center policy proposals, such as increased gun control and higher tax rates. ¹¹

Alleged Mismanagement of Union Funds

In 2014, five Health Professionals and Allied Employees (HPAE) union members sued then-HPAE president of awarding “virtually all of the union’s legal work to her live-in boyfriend.” Twomey lives with her boyfriend, Richard Loccke. Union members alleged that in 2013, the union paid out only $28,000 in benefits, but reported $210,000 in administrative costs, including payments to Locke. In total, Twomey’s boyfriend received $1.4 million from the union between 2006 and 2014, according to court filings. HPAE attorneys claimed that Twomey and Loccke’s relationship did not constitute a conflict of interest. ¹²

In 2017, a judge granted Twomey and the union summary judgment in their favor on some of the claims. ¹³

1. “Nurses, Health Professionals Elect New Officers At HPAE’s 2018 Convention; NJ’s Largest Healthcare Union Honors Ann Twomey, Founder of HPAE in Retirement.” Insider NJ. Accessed August 23, 2021. https://www.hpae.org/2018/10/nurses-health-professionals-elect-new-officers-at-hpaes-2018-convention-njs-largest-healthcare-union-honors-ann-twomey-founder-of-hpae-in-retirement/
2. “Health care union boss steered $1.4M in legal fees to boyfriend.” Marsh, Julia. Accessed August 30, 2021. https://nypost.com/2014/05/01/health-care-union-boss-steered-1-4m-in-legal-fees-to-boyfriend/
3. “Fonti v. Health Prof’ls.” Legal research tools from Casetext, March 31, 2017. https://casetext.com/case/fonti-v-health-professionals-allied-emps-2.
4. “4 prominent N.J. women reveal what Hillary Clinton’s candidacy means to them.” Livio, Susan. NJ.com. Accessed August 30, 2021. https://www.nj.com/politics/2016/07/hillary_clintons_candidacy_is_historic_will_that_m.html?fbclid=IwAR3RXN4hxv0Hr8c0kIZQ6b3Cz7RMxK7WDAmKAXJ-vK3XWntqHAF54XpSuPs
6. “Individual Contributions: Ann Twomey.” FEC.gov. Accessed August 21, 2021. https://www.fec.gov/data/receipts/individual-contributions/?contributor_name=ann%20twomey[/note]

   Twomey also has a long history of opposing right-of-center candidates and policies. In 2016, she released a statement through Health Professionals and Allied Employees (HPAE) calling on union members to vote against then-presidential nominee Trump. In her statement, Twomey claimed that President Trump, when elected, would nominate Supreme Court Justices who would “strip public sector workers of their hard-won collective bargaining rights.” She went on to argue that President Trump’s election would result in the normalization of hate speech, and “attacks” on women, immigrants, and disabled people. ⁵ “Message from HPAE President Ann Twomey on the Presidential Election: Our Rights At Risk.” Ann Twomey, HPAE. Accessed August 21, 2021. https://www.hpae.org/2016/11/message-hpae-president-ann-twomey-presidential-election-rights-risk/

7. “HPAE Statement on the Republican Plan to Repeal the ACA.” Ann Twomey, HPAE. Accessed August 21, 2021. https://www.hpae.org/2017/03/hpae-statement-republican-plan-repeal-aca/
8. “Vigils to Save our Healthcare.” New Jersey Citizen Action. Accessed August 23, 2021. http://org2.salsalabs.com/o/5699/p/salsa/event/common/public/?event_KEY=85263
9. 2017 IRS Form 990 Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax: Citizen Action of New Jersey. Part VII Section A: Trustees.
10. “The Sins of Ann Twomey: New Jersey Union Big Wig.” L. Burke Files. Accessed August 21, 2021. https://www.realclearmarkets.com/articles/2016/09/19/the_sins_of_ann_twomey_new_jersey_union_big_wig_102354.html
11. “Ann Twomey.” Observer. Accessed August 30, 2021. https://observer.com/?s=ann+twomey
12. “Health care union boss steered $1.4M in legal fees to boyfriend.” Marsh, Julia. Accessed August 30, 2021. https://nypost.com/2014/05/01/health-care-union-boss-steered-1-4m-in-legal-fees-to-boyfriend/
13. “Fonti v. Health Prof’ls.” Legal research tools from Casetext, March 31, 2017. https://casetext.com/case/fonti-v-health-professionals-allied-emps-2.