14 Apr 2006 Labor Union Spending: Party City on the Workers’ Dimes

The Evergreen Freedom Foundation’s Michael Reitz reveals eye-popping facts about labor union speanding:

…In 28 states around the country, workers can be required to pay for union representation as a condition of employment…

…in 2005 labor unions spent $7.3 million on plush resorts, nearly $1.3 million for amusement park events, $148,000 for liquor, and $641,000 for sporting events. SEIU Local 660 in Los Angeles spent $153,000 on movie tickets. Ironworkers Local 40 in New York spent $52,879 on a new Cadillac for a retiring president.

The rank-and-file not only pays for these exorbitant amusements; they also fund generous salaries and benefits for union employees… Nearly half of the NEA’s 650 employees make over $100,000 a year. The AFL-CIO has an official chauffeur and he makes $70,951.

…The AFL-CIO reported spending $49 million on politics and lobbying in its 2005 fiscal year — $20 million more than it spent on workplace representation.

Although 50 percent of NEA teachers self-identify as “conservative” and “tend conservative,” the union gave money to numerous liberal groups last year, including Jesse Jackson’s Rainbow PUSH Coalition, the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, Amnesty International, AIDS Walk Washington, the Human Rights Campaign, and the Fund to Protect Social Security…

Read the entire article here.