UnionFacts.com: Speak For Themselves
You already know that union bigwigs use their members’ mandatory dues to fund a radical political agenda and pay for lavish lifestyles. But this week the Center for Union Facts made available for the first time unprecedented information detailing how Big Labor spends its dues dollars.
This week we posted the first financial reports reflecting new Department of Labor requirements designed to give a more candid look at how major unions spend their members’ money. As of Friday, a majority of union headquarters filed their LM-2 financial disclosure forms with the government, and jaw-dropping expenditures are already easy to find.
With the new search function on UnionFacts.com, making sense of the mountains of union financial data is simple. A first look revealed the following:
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* The AFL-CIO alone spent over $49 million on political activities and lobbying — much of which is spent quietly on in-kind political expenditures like pro-Kerry brochures and websites. That’s almost $20 million more than it spent on representation activities.
* Nearly $1.5 million in union members’ dues money was spent on golf.
* The Ironworkers AFL-CIO Local Union 40 spent $52,879 on a new Cadillac for a retiring president.
* $7.9 million of employee dues money went to resort expenditures.
* Between six AFL-CIO-affiliated locals, over $50,000 of employee dues money was spent at a single D.C. steakhouse
Go to UnionFacts.com right now to find out where member money is going! (Hint: Our suggested search terms include: Bush, Kerry, steak, lobster, and clam.)
PLUS: Millions In Pay For Top Union Execs!
Also this week, the Center for Union Facts responded to the AFL-CIO’s new “Executive Paywatch” report, which highlights the large salaries of corporate executives. The facts show that the AFL-CIO brass conveniently forgot to include the excessive pay of its own leadership.
To help the labor federation bigwigs complete their report, the CUF is making available information regarding union officials’ bloated salaries:
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* The Plumbers paid former General President Martin Maddaloni $1.3 million in total compensation, and Secretary-Treasurer Thomas Patchell almost $900,000 — after they were ousted for disastrous pension investments in a Florida hotel. According to the Association for Union Democracy, the buyout agreement included — salaries and benefits plus free use of cars and other perks through the end of 2006.
* AFSCME President Gerald McEntee recorded total compensation just shy of $585,000.
* General President of the Laborers Terence O’Sullivan made more than $528,000.
* National Education Association President Reg Weaver made almost $439,000.
* The presidents of unions for players in the National Football League and the National Basketball Association made more than $1 million each. The NFL union head, Eugene Upshaw, made $2.4 million. Moreover, Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb received $900,000 from his AFL-CIO affiliated union as a player representative.
(via Townhall.com, this is an unpaid re-posting of their announcement)