Centro de Trabajadores Unidos en Lucha (CTUL)

NOTE: To download a PDF version of this report, please click here.

Centro de Trabajadores Unidos en Lucha (CTUL) is a long-time grantee of the Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD), most recently obtaining a grant in the latest grants list (FY 2020-2021) for $30,000.  Since 2010, CTUL has received $345,000 from the CCHD.
CTUL is an organization that was profiled by the Reform CCHD Now coalition back in 2012.   At issue was the fact that CTUL was a member of Take Action Minnesota – an organization promoting same-sex “marriage” and birth control – and even had representation on TakeAction MN’s Board of Directors.  It was also discovered that CTUL was a member of the Marxist-run Interfaith Worker Justice.  That previous report can be read here.

This report will show that CTUL is still active with TakeAction MN (even providing it with funds), that it is directly promoting transgender and homosexual ideologies, that it participated in a socialist candidate’s campaign, and that its leadership is deeply socialist, pro-abortion, and pro-LGBT.

In direct violation of the CCHD’s grant guidelines on membership in coalitions, CTUL is still a member of the Marxist-run Interfaith Worker Justice.  The CCHD has an FAQ page addressing what CCHD will and will not fund, stating unequivocally that CCHD will not fund organizations that are members of coalitions that act in direct contravention with Catholic moral and social teaching. It says:

For proof that Interfaith Worker Justice is an organization acting directly against Catholic social teaching, please view our report, here.

While CTUL hasn’t been listed as a member of TakeAction MN since the initial report came out, its Co-Director, Veronica Mendez Moore, was listed as a board member of TakeAction until as recently as 2020.  According to TakeAction MN’s tax form 990 for the year 2019 (submitted in March of 2020), Veronica Mendez Moore is listed on the board of directors.
In December of 2021, TakeAction MN held an online fundraising event celebrating it’s 15th year as an organization.  The event was called “The People’s Celebration 2021.”  The website for the event provided a summary of what took place, along with a few brief video clips, and identified its sponsors at the bottom.  Listed as a “Grassroots Sponsor” is CTUL.
While the chart of sponsorship fees for this particular celebration is no longer available, a similar event was held in 2019.  The payment chart for that event indicated the same types of sponsorship levels, and according to it, the “Grassroots Sponsor” fee was $500.  Given this, it is reasonable to conclude that CTUL provided a $500 contribution to TakeAction MN, an organization that of which it was once a member, had long-time representation on the board, and has maintained a close working relationship.
TakeAction livestreamed the People’s Celebration event on facebook, and at several points in the video are proofs that not only did CTUL financially support TakeAction MN, but TakeAction MN displayed its pro-abortion activities during the “celebration.”

At the 00:01:30 mark of the video, CTUL is identified as a “Grassroots Sponsor.”
At the 00:13:45 mark of the video, CTUL’s co-Director, Veronica Mendez Moore showed up to thank TakeAction MN for all their years of work, “and for getting [her] involved in and caring about electoral politics.”
At the 00:23:05 mark of the video, TakeAction MN indicates that its goal is to create a “multi-racial feminist democracy and economy where all of us can live in joy.”
At the 00:23:43 mark of the video, the narrator says, “We knew to change everything, we would need everyone. We worked together to build leaders and strong partnerships.”  And while that is being stated, CTUL’s logo appeared on the spread of TakeAction MN’s closest collaborators and members.
At 00:23:57, TakeAction’s video shows its own initiatives promoting “reproductive freedom” (upper left) and LGBT activism with a sign saying, “Queer has many faces” (lover left).
At 00:24:10, the TakeAction video says, “These are troubling and uncertain times,” while displaying a headline
And just to head off any deliberate misinterpretation of this statement from the video, TakeAction MN is stridently and unapologetically pro-abortion, as this recent post of theirs indicates.
As it stands, this evidence shows that CTUL was originally a member with board representation of TakeAction MN, and despite having had its name removed from the membership roster after the Reform CCHD Now coalition busted it in 2012, it has maintained board membership at least to 2020.  The evidence also proves that CTUL provided financial contributions to TakeAction MN, and this while TakeAction has continued to push a hard-left agenda in favor of abortion and LGBTQ ideologies.

But this pales in comparison to CTUL’s own advancement of grave immorality.

On April 28, 2018, CTUL announced an event it was hosting called “Muxeres Magicxs// Magic Womxn.”  The description for the event indicated that it would be promoting “womxn’s rights, womxns movements” and “LGBTQ movements.”
On June 25, 2020, CTUL celebrated “Pride,” saying, “Pride was an uprising against the police, started by queer and trans Black and Brown people … 51 years later, we still have not seen justice. Let’s not lose sight of the the roots of Pride and how much work there still is to be done.”  The article posted by CTUL in the post reported that “Pride is, and always was about rebellion.”
On June 15, 2020, CTUL celebrated the Supreme Court’s ruling that strikes down religious freedom protections by forcing employers to hire openly LGBTQ+ workers.
On June 30, 2020, CTUL tweeted a call to “honor trans and gender nonconforming individuals.”
In the same series of tweets, CTUL actually called upon people to donate to transgender activist organizations.

On March 31, 2019, CTUL claimed that “trans rights are human rights.”
In 2020, CTUL held a pancake fundraiser, calling upon donors to match their donation to CTUL by giving to other organizations, including a Trans-activist group.
On November 6, 2020, the Transgender Equity Council Training Subcommittee held a meeting and posted their minutes online.  On page 3 of the meeting minutes, it indicates that CTUL is training “staff and base/members around trans equity.”

CTUL and Political Campaigning

In 2013, while CTUL was receiving CCHD grants (CTUL received consecutive grants from 2010-2015), CTUL and its executive director Veronica Mendez Moore were involved in campaigning for a Socialist candidate for public office.  Ty Moore was a candidate for City Council in 2013, and his official website indicated that he was running as a “Socialist Alternative Candidate.”

In December of 2013, after Moore lost the election, PopularResistance.org published an article titled, “How Socialists Became a Viable Alternative.”  Under the heading “Hard Core Campaigners,” the article indicated that members of CTUL were not only socialists, but campaigners for Socialist candidates.  It said:

“At the core of both campaigns were members of our own socialist organization and a few other people who were already close to SA. As the campaigns developed, we drew in more and more people from the community.  Many were activists who had already been involved in organized struggles – such as in Minneapolis, Occupy Homes’ fight against foreclosures and that of CTUL (Centro de Trabajadores Unidos en Lucha) for immigrant workers’ rights; and in Seattle, SAFE (Seattle Against Foreclosure and Eviction) and the Transit Riders.”

In August of 2013, the International Socialist Alternative published an article titled, “Tight Race for City Council: Socialist campaign is gaining support and momentum over Democrat’s challengers.”  In the article, Ty Moore identified himself as a socialist, saying, “It looks more and more like Ward 9 voters will surprise many by electing the first socialist to city council in decades.”  A few lines later, CTUL’s executive director, Veronica Mendez Moore said that she had been organizing community leaders behind Ty’s campaign:

“I’ve been organizing other community leaders behind Ty’s campaign because we believe he will fight to ensure working people have a voice in City Hall,” said Ward 9 resident Veronica Mendez, Executive Director of CTUL [Centro de Trabajadores Unidos en Lucha], who led the strike of low-wage immigrant workers who clean Target stores in July. “Ty Moore is clear that we need to build long term social movements that go beyond any one candidate to make the changes we seek.”

Veronica Mendez, identified as the head of CTUL, gave a public endorsement for Ty Moore’s campaign.  Ty Moore’s facebook campaign page announced Mendez’ endorsement.

CTUL Leadership

Veronica Mendez Moore’s involvement with TakeAction MN and the socialist campaign of Ty Moore are external expressions of her leadership of CTUL itself.  And a careful examination of her social media page, and the pages of other CTUL leaders, illustrates that the systemic ideologies of CTUL and its leaders is directly opposed to Catholic moral and social teaching.  For instance, in addition to endorsing socialist candidate Ty Moore, Veronica Mendez Moore also supported Socialist candidate Kshama Sawant.
Taylor Shevey is CTUL’s Lead Organizer.  Among Shevey’s “likes” on facebook are pro-abortion, socialist and pro-LGBT organizations.
On March 3, 2016, Shevey declared of the The 3rd Annual SPIRAL Abortion Doula Training “This is amazing!”
On June 27, 2015, Shevey celebrated the same-sex “marriage” decision of the Supreme Court.
In June of 2016, Shevey announced a relationship with the senior national organizer for Black LGBTQ Migrant Project.
Tate Hornof is an Organizer for CTUL.  Tate’s facebook page is littered with support for LGBTQ ideologies.

For example, this post from June of 2017, celebrating “pride.”
Or this post from August of 2017, wherein Tate asks with a wink, “Why else would there be a rainbow flag in the background?”
Ruth Schultz is the Organizing Director for CTUL, and Schultz promotes same-sex “marriage.”

In May of 2013, Schultz posted in support of same-sex “marriage.”
And in June of 2015, Schultz celebrated the Supreme Court decision, forcing legalized same-sex “marriage” on every state in the country.
Merle Payne, the co-director with Veronica Mendex Moore, is also pro-homosexual, as is indicated in this post on his facebook page:
Conclusion

We have conclusively shown that CTUL is an organization that is intimately tied to the promotion of abortion, homosexuality, transgenderism, and socialism.  As an organization, it is a member of the Marxist-run Interfaith Worker Justice.  It is a past-member of TakeAction MN, and still has very close ties with the organization, including financial support.  Take Action MN is heavily pro-abortion and pro-LGBT, and could never be morally supported under any circumstances.  CTUL, as an organization has given full-throated support for homosexual and transgender ideologies, including calling for financial support for transgender organizations.  CTUL’s executive director was a vocal supporter and endorser of a socialist candidate for public office, indicating that she helped “organize community leaders” in support of this socialist candidate as well.  And many of the other leaders of CTUL are actively pro-abortion and pro-LGBT.

This organization has no business receiving Catholic funding, and despite the fact that the CCHD was warned of this group in 2012, CTUL continues to receive CCHD funds.  The CCHD clearly is either incapable of or unwilling to properly vet organizations to which it provides funding, and as such, should be closed down as an organization altogether.