Press Releases

Today, Education and Workforce Committee Chairman Tim Walberg (R-MI) and Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions Subcommittee Chairman Rick Allen (R-GA) sent a letter to American Federation of Teachers (AFT) President Randi Weingarten demanding answers and accountability after reports surfaced of excessive spending on luxury travel and other personal expenses.

In the letter, Walberg and Allen write: “The Committee has received reports describing first-class travel, family-related expenses, and large vendor payments that appear unrelated to legitimate representational activities. If substantiated, these allegations reveal a troubling lack of accountability within AFT leadership. It is the Committee’s responsibility to conduct oversight to protect union members. As such, the Committee seeks to ascertain the truth of these allegations and whether the alleged conduct may warrant reform of the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act (LMRDA).”

The letter continues: “The magnitude of recent AFT officer reimbursements raises questions about the adequacy of your current treasury oversight practices. AFT’s Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 Form LM-2 shows that you received $42,105 in additional disbursements on top of your $457,769 gross salary (which, notably, is more than six times the average teacher salary of $72,030). Committee sources allege that part of your reimbursements covered personal international travel unrelated to AFT business and that union funds were used to provide you with a full-time private driver. AFT’s LM-2 filings also list disbursements to Alpine Limousine Service, Inc., with payments totaling over $100,000 in each of the previous two fiscal years. … Using union funds to pay a luxury private limousine service suggests that AFT is financing personal conveniences for senior officers rather than using union funds appropriately.”

The letter goes on: “Meanwhile, Secretary-Treasurer Fedrick Ingram received a gross salary of $301,892 in FY 2024, plus an additional allowance of $76,200 in 2024 and in each of the previous three fiscal years. This regularity is unusual: every other officer or employee who received more than $5,000 in annual allowances saw their payments fluctuate from year to year. Furthermore, in each of those years, Ingram’s allowance exceeded that of any other officer or employee by more than $30,000. These discrepancies raise questions about how allowances are calculated and utilized. Absent detailed documentation and effective oversight, such expenditures may not be transparent, which may hide the extent of personal benefits, leaving union members’ dues vulnerable to misuse.”

Read the full letter here.  

###