Once Again, Unions Shaft "The Little Guy"

Thanks to disclosure rules the union bosses have long fought tooth-and-nail with every Democrat hack pol they could purchase, the case is now damning:

What does Tiger Woods have in common with union officials? Answer: they both play a lot of golf. The only difference is union officials get to play on their members' dime. A lot of dimes, actually. Organized labor spent $1.3 million on golf in 2005.

This and other enlightening facts about union spending are now public because of new disclosure regulations championed by U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao. Unions with annual receipts of $250,000 or more are required to file detailed financial reports disclosing union salaries, benefits, income and expenditures. As a result, union members now have unprecedented insight into how their unions spend their dues.

In 28 states around the country, workers can be required to pay for union representation as a condition of employment. Their mandatory payments have underwritten lavish spending that often has nothing to do with workplace representation. The Center for Union Facts uncovered many of these expenditures by compiling the Department of Labor's reports into a searchable database available at unionfacts.com.

For example, 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. Ironworkers Local 40 in New York spent $52,879 on a new Cadillac for a retiring president. SEIU Local 660 in Los Angeles spent $153,000 on movie tickets.

The rank-and-file not only pays for these exorbitant amusements; they also fund generous salaries and benefits for union employees. While the nation's teachers perennially protest low salaries, National Education Association (NEA) president Reg Weaver makes $272,170, with another $98,258 for benefits and expenses. 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.

Additionally, unions seem far more interested in amassing political power than representing employees. 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.

Mind you, these union fat cats do nothing except drive the price of labor up, poison the workplace, and line their pockets.

When will Joe Lunchpail wise up? I think he already has---union membership is way down in every sector except public and service employees.

Unions are dying---unless they can replenish their manpower with uneducated, unskilled labor particularly dependent on corrupt union officials.

Now where might they find such people?