Why would a union want to raise taxes on an industry that employs about 33,000 of their members?  

Labor union UNITE HERE’s recently sponsored study 12BILLION.org purports that 35 states grant jet fuel tax breaks to commercial airlines.  UNITE HERE alleges that these airlines received more than $1 billion in tax breaks on the 12 billion gallons of jet fuel they purchased in 2013. 

Study author Adam Yalowitz (whose name is mysteriously missing from the study website) is quoted in the Chicago Tribune speaking against these jet fuel tax breaks:

“This is a lot of money states are giving away in tax breaks ... happening at the same time that airlines are saying they are actually overtaxed and are pushing for new tax breaks…It's just a lot of money that taxpayers are losing out on."

Why would Yalowitz and UNITE HERE have a genuine interest in this supposed loss of money to the state?  The suspiciously unsourced poll on 12billion.org seems like an attempt to hide the real reason. 

The wording of the poll suggests that Yalowtiz and UNITE HERE are concerned with low jet fuel taxes because people view them as “fiscally irresponsible."  Since when do labor unions care about fiscal responsibility?  According to Stephen Moore of The Wall Street Journal, nearly 20 large cities are following Detroit down the path of destruction thanks in large measure to public pensions driven by government sector unions.

In the same Chicago Tribune article, an airline trade association’s spokesperson makes UNITE HERE and Yalowtiz’s concern seem more suspicious by laying out the benefits that lower jet fuel taxes bring to the economy:

"Our employees — and the largest labor unions — know that when the airline industry is financially healthy, they and our customers win because we can invest in benefits, training, planes and other customer amenities…No one wins when the industry, our customers and our employees are forced to shoulder higher taxes."

Airlines with lower tax burdens ultimately benefit UNITE HERE and its members.  Why wouldn’t UNITE HERE want the opportunity to pick up more members whose dues would increase its revenue? 

In a press release responding to 12billion.org, an industry trade association completely destroys UNITE HERE’s case against low jet fuel taxes by showing that the union clearly did not bother to understand the foundation of its own argument:

“The report cites to a lack of state-level retail sales taxes on jet fuel as a “tax break,” but it is common knowledge that states are not supposed to impose retail sales taxes on airline fuel, because it isn’t a retail consumer good, but a commodity used to produce a retail consumer good.”

Either UNITE HERE is in favor of higher taxes for idiotic ideological reasons, or union higher-ups are getting something from someone for supporting this study.

Or both.

Pictured:  Union members agitating for higher corporate taxes in Florida.