Big Labor: Largess paid for by Boilermakers' union dues money

Last month the AFL-CIO launched a web site attacking CEO salaries. Perhaps the site should  feature the leadership of the Boilermakers union, which is a member of the AFL-CIO.

From the Kansas City Star:

A prime suite at Kansas Speedway. First-class travel. Six-figure salaries for half the staffers. Plenty of plum jobs for family members.

Life is good at the top of the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, Iron Ship Builders, Blacksmiths, Forgers and Helpers.

The union, with its headquarters in Kansas City, Kan., represents about 59,000 workers in the U.S. and Canada who make and repair boilers, fit pipes and work on ships and power plants. The recession has hit their trade hard, reducing union membership.

At the same time, the president’s salary has surged 67 percent in the past six years, not counting a recent raise. Add in travel and some other expenses, and Newton B. Jones totaled more than $600,000 last year, putting him at the absolute top of the presidents of the dozen biggest unions in the country.

Big shots at the union enjoy expensive junkets and retiring officials have received cars as going away presents. The entire article is--and I rarely use this term--is a must-read.

More: The Boilermakers' pension fund is under investigation.

And it's not just the Boilermakers' union, as National Review Online tells us. Presidents of AFSCME, the United Food and Commercial Workers, Sheet Metal Workers' International Association, and the Transportation Communications Union are pulling big bucks too.

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