ACORN labor affiliate declines to file annual report in New Orleans | Washington Examiner

ACORN labor affiliate declines to file annual report in New Orleans | Washington Examiner

Community activists who provide support and training services for organized labor have neglected to file their annual report with the Louisiana secretary of state and are now listed as being “not in good standing,” according to public records.
A non-profit affiliate organization of the Association of Community Activists for Reform Now (ACORN) that shares the same address with almost 300 other allied groups in New Orleans was suppose to file its annual report shortly after its anniversary in late May of this year, Jacques Berry, a press secretary for Louisiana Secretary of State Jay Dardenne said in an interview.



“They have to file this report whether or not there are any changes in their leadership,” he said. “If they fail to file by their anniversary date, then they are listed as not in good standing. But our office does not regulate these organizations. We are merely a registration agency.”
The ACORN Community Labor Organizing Center (ACLOC) was the single largest recipient of donations from the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) to ACORN and its many affiliates between 2005 and 2008, U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) LM-2 disclosure forms show.
The SEIU donations recorded on LM-2’s show the ACLOC Apprentice Program received $630,457 in 2008, $780,300 in 2007, $1.5 million in 2006, and $834,841 in 2005. There are strong links between SEIU and the national ACORN organization. SEIU Locals 100 and 880 were listed as allied organizations on ACORN’s web site until The Examiner highlighted this connection.
LM-2’s show there is over $600,000 in contributions between these same SEIU locals and other ACORN operations. A 2007 LM-2 form shows SEIU Local 880, which is active in Illinois and Minnesota, donated $60,118 to ACORN for "membership services." SEIU has also funded ACORN’s “Muscle for Money” program, a highly aggressive, well-coordinated anti-corporate campaign.
ACLOC was founded in 2005 for purpose of building and fostering partnerships between community activists and organized labor. It has been active in Canada and the U.S. In Canada, for example, ACLOC provided “basic training” for SEIU recruits who then move into “Organizer Apprentice” positions. ACLOC has also partnered with SEIU activists in Houston and Boston, according its web site.
Other collaborative efforts with organized labor have involved the United Federation of Teachers (UFT) and the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW). The ACORN affiliate is working with the teachers union to provide “community support” for daycare providers. ACLOC also joined with the UFCW “to put pressure” on the Basha’s grocery store chain in Arizona to allow for unionization.
The UFCW donated $131,089 to ACLOS in 2007.
If ACLOC declines to file its annual report for another three years, the secretary of state’s office will revoke its registration, Berry said.
Labor unions have donated almost $10 million to ACORN and its affiliate groups with over $7 million from the SEIU alone, since 2005 according to LM-2 forms.