Media
Big Bucks for Government Union Bosses
Union bosses frequently criticize corporate CEOs and government leaders for supposedly taking home hefty pay at workers’ expense. Just this week, protesters picketed House Majority Whip Stan Saylor’s office in York, and singled out his $82,000-a-year salary as lavish. But as our latest research shows, government union bosses do pretty well for themselves too—all funded through dues from ordinary union members. Take a look at the table below from “The Squeeze: Government Unions’ Grip on Pennsylvanians.”
All four union bosses earn six-figure compensation or close to it. The biggest earner—Wendell Young IV—earns pay equal to nine workers in UFCW 1776. And a whopping 148 employees at the Pennsylvania State Education Association earn more than $100,000. Perhaps government union bosses like Wendell Young attack the top 1 percent of income earners because his hefty pay only puts him in the top 2 percent.
Pennsylvania Government Union Profiles, 2011 | ||||
PSEA | AFSCME Council 13 | UFCW 1776** | SEIU Local 668 | |
Members and Fee Payers | 197,346 | 61,655 | 21,405 | 19,258 |
Total Revenue | $99,496,318 | $35,868,063 | $14,438,103 | $13,326,144 |
Chief Executive | James Testerman | David Fillman | Wendell Young, IV | Kathy Jellison |
CEO/Pres. Compensation | $253,583 | $205,891 | $287,386 | $99,098 |
Number of Union Managers Earning $100,000 + | 148 | 46 | 11 | 0 |
Regular Dues for Full Time Member | $427/year | 1.5% of salary | $16.97/week | 1.39% of salary |
Avg. Member Salary* | $61,237 | $39,464 | $31,022 | $47,754 |
Sources: Office of Labor-Management Standards, “Form LM-2 Labor Organization Annual Reports,” http://kcerds.dol-esa.gov/query/getOrgQry.do, Pennsylvania Open Government, “2011 State Government Workforce Statistics-Average Compensation By Union Fiscal Year 2009-10,” http://www.oabis.state.pa.us/SGWS/2011/SGWS_Main.html, Pennsylvania Department of Education, Professional Personnel Summary Public Schools, http://www.pde.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/professional_and_support_personnel/7429 | ||||
* Average salary for all state government employees covered under collective bargaining agreement for AFSCME, UFCW, and SEIU; average salary of all school district professional employees for PSEA. **LM-2 Year 2010 Report for UFCW. |