Some of the nation’s largest labor unions representing nurses and public school teachersare spending heavily on leftist causes and candidates ahead of the 2026 elections.

While their ostensive purpose is to negotiate wages, employee benefits, and workplace conditions, these unions continue to pour resources into critical races that could change the political makeup of Congress, as Democrats seek to retake the majority in November and progressive challengers, leaning on anti-establishment messaging, look to edge out more centrist opponents in primary upsets across the country.

Earlier this year, NNU ralliedin D.C. alongside Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA) and former Rep. Cori Bush (D-MO), to demand Congress “abolish ICE.” In a press release for the April protest, NNU described ICE as “a lawless paramilitary force that Trump uses to terrorize citizens and non-citizens alike, and to brutalize opponents of his authoritarian government.”

They offered no evidence of such claims, nor did they mention the fact that the vast majority — 70% — of ICE arrests are of illegal immigrants who have been charged with or convicted of a crime in the United States.

For generations, the leaders who represented American workers in unions earned their positions the hard way, whether it be on the job site, in the classroom, or at the bedside. And that’s because the promise of the American labor union was simple: workers standing together who understood the job, the risks, and what it meant to punch a clock or pull a shift. Skilled tradespeople, nurses, teachers, and electrical workers organized because they had skin in the game. 

Reporting finds National Nurses United and Soros network among top donors to New Georgia Project

We talk to Shift Change, who are fighting for more democracy in National Nurses United