From the Club for Growth
Q: When is a picket line not a picket line? A: When AFL-CIO officials cross it!
The Center for Union Facts Finds AFL-CIO Union Execs Living Large on Members’ Dime
3/2/06
SAN DIEGO, CA -- Under a gentle breeze on a sunny afternoon, Pacific Ocean waves quietly crested and crashed onto the soft sandy beaches at the foot of the exclusive Hotel del Coronado, which played host to the AFL-CIO executive council annual meeting this week. But while the Center for Union Facts followed the luminaries of labor out here fully expecting to find members' dues funding this lavish lifestyle, even we weren't ready for the union execs' shocking hypocrisy: the hotel where labor leaders are spending their members' money is currently being picketed by a union in a labor dispute!
As shown in our photo album, a Carpenters local isn't happy that the hotel uses a contractor that has remained union-free. But the AFL-CIO hotshots apparently don't believe in solidarity when it gets in the way of a good vacation on their members' dime.
And that dime turns into real money pretty quickly. The hotel itself is as expensive as it is beautiful, and rooms can easily run $600 per night or more. The spa is extra, and so is the food. But the hefty price tag didn't seem to slow the labor officials we saw, one of whom clocked more than 5 hours doing the members' work at a seaside bar, alternating between $3.25 bottles of San Pellegrino and highballs of whiskey on the rocks. For an idea of what the final tab could be, we checked the AFL-CIO's bill for its 2004 meeting at the Drake Hotel in Chicago. There they racked up a bill of $224,000 -- categorized as "union administration." That's a big party for a small group. With only 53 council members, that’s more than $4,000 a head.
The Center for Union Facts thinks it's important to highlight the hypocritical and selfish use of dues by union officials. So, we've put together another ad summing up the AFL-CIO's great boondoggle junket of '06 in the form of a postcard from labor leaders to their members. And just to make sure they got the point, we hand-delivered a few of our post cards to the AFL-CIO's top brass.
There are pictures at the site.
9 comments:
Let's be clear. Republicans are about breaking up unions. Republicans are against collective bargining for healthcare, wages and vacation. Republicans are about the CEO's taking their profits overseas and disolving the great middle class. Let's keep it up with the anti union stuff. I do like your readers to see that you are about dividing people from their unions.
You're half right. I am about dividing union members from the fat cats which are the union "leadership".
I've seen long ago how often union officials are willing to sell out their members. You forget that I come from a union family.
I am not from a union family but I was always taught to appreciate unions and what they have done for our families.
They brought us safe workplaces, the weekend, overtime, and healthcare. In turn the great middleclass where working families could send their children to college.
Be careful what you wish for!
Robert Kennedy says Republicans are Democrats with bad information. This keeps me always trying to get people like yourself to see the light!
What do you think about your State Party chair having a driver and a brand new Cadillac Esclade. Mark Brewer drives a 3 year old Taurus by himself. He has over 140,000 miles on his car. What do you think about your party dues being spent on this? Saul also flew on your Republican Party's dime all over the U. P. Is this okay with you?
Do hold the Republican's to the same standard you hold Democrats?
Unions are the most corrupt organizations in America. Ever hear of the mob?
Today's unions are nothing like the early unions. They give us inflexable work rules (costs jobs), wholesale control of the democrat party (high regulation, big government), big time corruption (how many unions are in fedreal custody?) and the union bosses wont take strike pay when workers are on strike (they take full salary) and ofcourse, the junkets galore on the workers dime, and all the money they force out of workers to give to their democrat pals.
The best day of my life was getting out of the oppressive union structure (did I mention they are anti women?) and got a better job.
Stop your love affair with thugs who could care less about the average worker.
So now democrats dont want people to buy new american cars? We must be winning the battle of ideas if the best you can do is worry about what kind of car republicans drive. Bad saul, for being a successful businessman in his own right. I hope he buys another great american car.
I hope he keeps flying around the state meeting voters and getting them signed up as republicans. I'm sure he'll fly over a broken down mark brewer some where on his way to take orders from one of those fine union boss county party chairs.
BenF
I don't think any of you would like a world without unions. How can you be so trusting?
Keith Richards I appreciate your thoughtful response. I agree with you on many of the problems with unions, but what you fail to explain is your non union shops get the advantage of those who have done the hard work of the collective bargaining and organizing unions. So to me you are sort of a person who enjoys all the work unions have accomplished and now believe you can kill the goose that laid the golden egg and survive with out unions. I think this is increbibly short sighted.
Please don't believe we have to have a rush to the bottom for healthcare, wages and work standards to be competitive. We can do better than this! I think it's far better to get involved in the union than destroy it.
Who pays for Saul's travel, car and driver?
I don't think it'Saul, it's the Republican Party.
But as long as it's not union dues...
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