A coalition of small business owners plans on ramping up its political donations to combat union campaigns against franchise businesses.
Steve Caldeira, president and CEO of the International Franchise Association, announced on Tuesday that IFA and its affiliated political action committee plan on dramatically increasing political donations in 2016.
FranPAC, which represents the interests of the nation’s more than half-a-million franchise businesses and the eight million jobs they are responsible for, raised $1.3 million in the 2013-2014. It is looking to nearly triple that amount in the near future through its Franchise Action Network, which mobilizes grassroots advocacy and public relations campaigns.
"We need to raise at least another $3 to $4 million by the end of 2016 to successfully run the type of campaign that allows us the best chance to win," Caldeira said. "We are in unprecedented times in this industry and we need FranPAC to continue to effectively educate members of Congress on the time-tested and proven franchise model."
IFA is facing off against some of the most entrenched union interests in the country. The Service Employees International Union, which has targeted some of the nation’s largest franchise corporations, is routinely one of the most politically active groups in the country, spending tens of millions of dollars each election.
Caldeira said that IFA’s political haul will be especially important as the partisan National Labor Relations Board deliberates cases that could dismantle the franchise model, in which entrepreneurs pay corporations fees to operate under a brand.
"We need to raise more dollars in order to push back as hard as we can," he said. "SEIU spent $18.5 million dollars on the minimum wage issue alone in 2014, and in total, over $38 million since 2013, so every dollar is critical to our efforts moving forward."
IFA and its affiliated groups are already investing money in advertisements in Virginia, Colorado, and Washington, D.C., to spread the message that local fast food restaurants and other chain stores are independent, rather than corporate, operations.
The distinction is important because the National Labor Relations Board, the top federal labor arbiter, is attempting to hold franchisors liable for the actions of franchisees. The IFA and its affiliates hope that by ramping up its political influence it can pass federal law shielding franchisees from the "existential threat" they face from overreaching regulators.
"This coalition will act as the primary vehicle to eventually pass federal legislation to preserve the current statutory definition of what constitutes a joint employer within the National Labor Relations Act, so that we can halt the NLRB from expanding the joint employer standard," Caldeira said. "This coalition is for preserving job creation."