A new American Accountability Foundation report alleges Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees Division leaders backed Democratic-aligned organizations and spent millions on salaries, hotels, conferences, travel and casinos while many rank-and-file rail workers support President Donald Trump.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
A major railroad union representing tens of thousands of workers is facing scrutiny after a watchdog report accused its leadership of steering money toward Democratic-aligned causes while many of its rank-and-file members support President Donald Trump.
The American Accountability Foundation report, detailed by Fox News, focuses on the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees Division, or BMWED-IBT, one of the nation’s largest rail unions. The union represents about 37,000 members.
The report alleges that BMWED-IBT leadership has used union resources and political influence in ways that conflict with the views of many working-class members who support the Trump-Vance agenda.
Brotherhood of Maintenance and Way Employees Division Bmwe Union Leadership Misalignment Report by yourNEWS Media
“The leadership’s progressive alignment is a stunning betrayal of the large proportion of its working-class members who support the MAGA agenda and President Trump’s leadership,” the report said.
“BMWE’s one-sided partisanship is evidenced by its attacks on the Trump agenda and its broad support for Democratic causes.”
The report described the union’s leadership as having a “leftward bent” and cited past criticism of Trump during his first term, including claims that he was “undoing Obama’s legacy” and that his deregulation efforts were “dangerous.”
The American Accountability Foundation also said the union backed left-leaning causes including Black Lives Matter, abortion and universal health care. The report said the union opposed Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” and maintained ties to Democratic groups and Democratic lawmakers, including Rep. Jesús “Chuy” García of Illinois and Rep. Dina Titus of Nevada.
The report argued that the union’s political posture reflects a broader gap between organized labor leadership and rank-and-file members who have shifted toward Trump in recent elections.
“While the broad support for the Trump-Vance agenda by industrial union members has been widely reported on, news of this nearly decade-old realignment has apparently yet to reach the leadership of the Brotherhood of Maintenance and Way Employees Division (BMWE) union whose dues-paying members repeatedly cast ballots for President Trump,” the report said.
The report also examined the union’s spending practices.
According to the American Accountability Foundation, BMWED-IBT sent more than $441,098 to organizations it characterized as left-wing, including the Center for American Progress, the National Democratic Club and the National Teamsters Hispanic Caucus.
The report said the National Democratic Club and National Teamsters Hispanic Caucus have opposed Trump administration immigration policies.
The watchdog group also reviewed the Teamsters’ Democrat, Republican, Independent Voter Education PAC, known as D.R.I.V.E. BMWED-IBT became part of that PAC after its own political action committee merged into it in 2004.
The report said the PAC directed about $13.76 million to Democratic Party committees compared with about $729,846 to Republican committees.
The report cited Teamsters polling showing a 60-40 split in favor of Trump, along with 2024 exit polling showing working-class voters without a college degree backing Trump over Kamala Harris 56% to 42%.
The American Accountability Foundation also accused BMWED-IBT of “massive wasteful spending,” saying roughly two-thirds of employees at union headquarters earned six-figure salaries in 2024 while the average BMWED-IBT member earned $61,692.
The report said BMWED-IBT President Tony D. Cardwell earned $233,492 that year and Secretary-Treasurer Dale Bogart earned $206,709. It also said members of BMWED-IBT Local Lodge 1020 pay nearly $100 per month in dues “that goes to subsidizing the salaries of union leadership.”
From 2017 to 2024, the report alleges, BMWED-IBT spent more than $18 million, including $7.25 million on hotels and conferences, $5.44 million on legal fees, $2.71 million on promotional items and merchandise, and $2.11 million on travel.
The report also said the union spent $2.33 million at casinos and resorts during that period, including a $522,281 payment to Caesars Entertainment in 2023.
“While hardworking rank-and-file members of the Brotherhood of Maintenance and Way Employees Division Union are busting their backs making an average of $60K per year, woke union bosses live like kings and have wasted millions in union dues on progressive activism, hotel stays, and casino trips,” AAF President Tom Jones told Fox News Digital.
“The BMWE Union is completely out of touch with its members and is actively betraying the very Trump-supporting workers it claims to support.”
Cardwell defended the union’s finances and political work, saying BMWED-IBT has prioritized fiscal responsibility since he became president in 2022.
“Since taking over leadership of the BMWED-IBT in 2022, our union has operated at a budget surplus,” Cardwell said. “In fact, it was one of our most prioritized goals to become fiscally responsible and diligent stewards of the memberships’ money. We are accomplishing this goal.”
Cardwell said the union’s activity “on Capitol Hill or in any statehouse nationwide” is aimed at “securing the best policy and protections” for members.
He said BMWED-IBT supports lawmakers from both parties when they back railroad workers.
“Party affiliation is not a determining factor for our political arm – support of working railroaders is the only thing that matters,” Cardwell said.
Cardwell also said union dues are not used for political lobbying.
“No dues dollars are allocated to political lobbying,” Cardwell said. “The only money donated to politicians comes from our Teamster PAC, which is and has always been voluntarily funded. It is vital that we have a voice in the political realm and this is how we accomplish it, with impartiality and the goal of achieving the best policies and legislation possible for our members.”
Despite the allegations of Democratic alignment, BMWED-IBT has also worked with Republicans on rail safety legislation.
Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., recently introduced the Secure Tracks Act, a measure that would require railroad companies to use both human and automated track inspections. Cardwell said the union has “garnered more Republican support on the Hill than in the past” and that its relationship with Trump “has been strengthened.”
Cardwell also noted that Vice President JD Vance supported rail safety legislation while serving as a U.S. senator from Ohio.
A review of BMWED-IBT’s social media accounts showed the union reposting and praising Trump and Vance’s support for the Railway Safety Act. The union has pushed for that legislation since the Norfolk Southern derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, three years ago, which caused a major chemical spill.
The American Accountability Foundation report follows a similar report earlier this year involving the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, one of the nation’s oldest labor unions. That report alleged the union was led by officials who promoted Democratic policies and candidates despite data suggesting much of its membership supports Trump.
The new BMWED-IBT report adds to a broader debate over whether national labor union leadership reflects the political priorities of rank-and-file industrial workers, particularly in unions whose members have increasingly supported Republican candidates in recent elections.
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