SEIU Healthcare Illinois directed less than one-fifth of its nearly $65.7 million budget toward representing workers in 2025, according to a new analysis of federal labor filings by the Illinois Policy Institute. The report, published this week, reveals that the union allocated just over $13 million to what the U.S. Labor Department defines as representational activities—the negotiation and enforcement of collective bargaining agreements that form a union's core mission. The filing also shows that more than 16,000 workers the union claims to represent have declined membership, and that dozens of union staffers earn six-figure salaries while the members they serve make modest hourly wages.
The union claims to represent 90,000 workers across four Midwestern states, but its most recent Labor Department report lists just 73,898 actual members, the analysis found. Of the union's total spending, $2.2 million went to political activities and lobbying, with more than $1 million flowing to its own political action committee. Fifty-eight officers and employees pulled in salaries exceeding $100,000, with the top 13 each earning over $150,000. Meanwhile, personal assistants represented by the union were paid $18.75 per hour under the 2025 collective bargaining agreement, and child care providers received daily rates ranging from $33.63 to $56.05 per eligible child, depending on county and age. Those workers then paid annual dues between $264 and $1,260. The union also spent more than $1 million on airlines, hotels, transportation, and meals, but federal reports listed most line items simply as "airline" or "meals" without further explanation.
The report notes that the Better Business Bureau's Standards of Charitable Accountability recommend that at least 65% of a nonprofit's total expenses go toward program activities. It also points out that government workers represented by SEIU Healthcare aren't required to join the union to keep their jobs or the benefits negotiated in their contracts, since employers must treat union members and nonmembers identically. One former member, Karena Cozad, is quoted as saying, "There's no benefit to [being in the union.] As far as I'm concerned, union [leaders] seem to be out for themselves."
The disparity between spending on core union functions and other expenses raises questions about how member dues are allocated, particularly given the wage gap between union staff and the workers they represent. Thousands of SEIU Healthcare workers provide care through government-funded programs like Illinois' Home Services Program and Child Care Assistance Program, earning far below the six-figure incomes common among union leadership. The report emphasizes that state and local government employees can opt out of membership and stop paying dues without losing any benefits in their contracts, a right the analysis says many workers may not realize they have. With nearly four-fifths of the union's budget directed away from worker representation, the filing suggests a structure where overhead, politics, and administrative priorities consume the majority of resources—a pattern the report argues leaves members with little direct return on their dues.