C-O-P-E. Political education is the best medicine. FPE/AFT affiliates rely on voluntary member contributions to their Committees on Political Education, or COPE, programs to fund political activities geared toward supporting candidates for public office who support public services--and public employees.

"COPE is critical to our union because we make gains for our members during each legislative session," says Chris Runge, executive director of the FPE/AFT-affiliated North Dakota Public Employees Association. "We don't have collective bargaining. We have to work through the legislative process in order to make gains for public employees in the areas of salaries, benefits and working conditions, and the only way we can do that is by electing worker-friendly candidates to office."

COPE programs vary by state, depending on the law. Here are some examples:

• The FPE/AFT-affiliated Alaska Public Employees Association (APEA) raises more than $35,000 a year for its Employees Political Information Committee (EPIC) between "reverse check-off" and voluntary contributions, according to Bruce Ludwig, APEA business manager. Reverse check-off is a system under which the APEA designates $.75 monthly for EPIC from each member's dues.

EPIC is primarily used to support state-level candidates; however, the APEA can use voluntary contributions to support federal candidates. The APEA represents about 5,400 workers throughout the state.

• The NDPEA, which represents about 1,800 workers across the state, raises between $12,000 and $15,000 annually for its COPE program--all through voluntary contributions. "It grows in election years," says Runge, emphasizing that "most members know that we live and die by politics, so when we talk to them about our COPE program, they are much more willing to donate their own dollars to our political program." Under law, the NDPEA can use its COPE fund only to support candidates for state office. About 25 percent of the NDPEA's membership contributes to its COPE program.

• The FPE/AFT-affiliated New York State Public Employees Federation (PEF) raises more than $100,000 a year for its COPE program through voluntary contributions, says Ken Brynien, a PEF vice president and chair of PEF's political action committee. In contrast to North Dakota, New York spends COPE money only on federal candidates. "Ninety-nine percent of our members work for state agencies, and most are funded in part by federal money," says Brynien. "Decisions made in Washington [D.C.] have a direct impact on our members, so we need to affect those decisions in Washington from the start--and that resonates [with our members]."

One common denominator shared by all the political programs is how they decide to support candidates. "It has to be based on the issues," Runge says. "It is not based on political parties."