« BACK  |  PRINT

RS

MEMBER DIARY

Where Do All Those Union Dues Go?

There’s been a lot written lately on how much money union bosses spent on the mid-term elections.  While the hundreds of millions spent may seem astounding, it really is just a drop in the bucket considering the roughly $28 billion that (public and private-sector) unions rake in every year in union dues.

For union members (and other interested people) who are interested in seeing how unions spend members’ money, the Department of Labor publishes union financial reports on its website (unionreports.gov) where you can search by national union, as well as individual local unions.  There are also other sites that give people information where union members’ money is spent.

For example, the Teamsters for a Democratic Union (which is run by Teamster members fighting corruption within the infamous union) analyzes the Teamsters’ finances and publishes the $150,000 Club [in PDF].

On Tuesday, the Competitive Enterprise Institute released this short video that takes a look at several of the unions and their expenditures.

X-posted.
__________________

“I bring reason to your ears, and, in language as plain as ABC, hold up truth to your eyes.” Thomas Paine, December 23, 1776

Follow laborunionrpt on Twitter

COMMENTS

  • markvol

    where my dues go. Even in a “right to work” state, in a closed
    shop I’m still stuck. I pay them.
    But just so you know, mine doesn’t have a lavish pension plan.

  • fisk2521

    I have a relative who worked for UPS….great benefits, almost no co-pay, covered everything, retired at 50. Those benefits, however, were not the same in every local of the country and I believe negotiated separately.

    However, strikes were an entirely different matter. There was no strike pay if they “went out”. The major strike in the 90′s by UPS left many union workers without a salary and some were forced to ‘cross the line’ in order to feed their families and pay their mortgages. It was, however, a dangerous thing to do. Believe me, those members were treated very badly by union members who stuck it out and it continued long after the strike was over …. forever. I could not believe that all the dues paid over the years did not give the union any financial help during a long, protracted strike. Wouldn’t you think that would be a priority?

    Most astounding was that when the corruption and theft of union dues by people like Hoffa was brought up, my cousin defended him.