Union Monopoly Power Will Bankrupt Illinois
Taxpayers United of America (TUA) today released the results of its second study of the Chicago Teachers’ Pension Fund (CTPF), which reveals many pensioners are on track to collect more than $5 million…
Taxpayers United of America (TUA) today released the results of its second study of the Chicago Teachers’ Pension Fund (CTPF), which reveals many pensioners are on track to collect more than $5 million…
Michael Barone, senior political analyst for the Washington Examiner, looks at the once vibrant city of…
Nicole Gelinas looks at how big labor monopoly power has bankrupted cities and the end result is their retirees are getting the shaft because of it. Imagine you’re a retiree with chronic health problems on a fixed income, but…
The Daily Caller reports that the Internal Revenue Service revealed this month that 201 of its employees work full-time on union activities. As Office of Personnel Management documents explain, the performance of union duties instead of official government business…
The Hill reports that Sen. Mitch McConnell argues that it was the IRS union that set the tone for the extra scrutiny agents gave the Tea Party and other conservative groups. IRS agents were taking cues from union leaders…
President Obama has claimed airline delays because of the Sequester cannot be avoided, however, Diana Furchtgott-Roth notes, that taxpayers are funding 17 air traffic controllers to work for their union instead of for public air safety: With air traffic controllers furloughed and travelers delayed at airports, it's time to ask why Uncle Sam is paying 17 air traffic controllers to work full time as representatives for government unions rather than guiding airplanes. Uncle Sam calls hours that federal workers spend working for their unions and not working for taxpayers "official time." Sixteen of the 17 air traffic controllers on official time make six-figure salaries. In a report issued in February, just before Presidents Day weekend, the Office of Personnel Management announced that the federal government paid more than $156 million in 2011 for career civil service employees to work on official time, up from $139 million in 2010 and $129 million in 2009. Government employees, including air traffic controllers, spent more than 3.4 million hours in 2011 on official time, up from 3.1 million in 2010 and 3 million in 2009. OPM reports numbers of hours on official time. The only way to ascertain the number of full-time employees is to submit a Freedom of Information Act request to each individual agency. Americans for Limited Government, a conservative nonprofit organization, requested the data for each agency. Kathy Roy, FOIA officer at DOT, reported that 35 employees did no work at all for the department in 2012, including 17 air traffic controllers. go here for the list. They were paid average salaries of $138,000, for a total cost to taxpayers of $4.8 million annually. Many more DOT employees spent some of their day at departmental duties, with the rest as official time, courtesy of the taxpayer.
Terry McAuliffe’s support from big labor continues to come under scrutiny from the media. The Free Beacon reports that the union bosses are spending big to see him gain control of the Old Dominion: Unions are spending hundreds of…
In Right to Work Virginia, Democrats have nominated former Clinton fundraiser Terry McAuliffe for governor. It is worth remembering that McAuliffe has a long history and relationship with the union bosses who are bankrolling his campaign in the hopes of…
Lorain, Ohio is finding that union-only project labor agreements (PLAs) do not live up to union bosses’ promises. PLAs costs taxpayers both in taxes and time, estimates range from 31% to 60% increased costs on construction projects. Richard Payerchin from…