Government Employee Unions Robbing Taxpayers

On my Saturday radio talk program, I recently interviewed Mallory Factor, the author of a new book called Shadowbosses. Shadowbosses is a term he invented for government employee unions. We've only had government-employee union in recent years, and they are very different from private sector unions because government employee unions are paid by the taxpayers and the taxpayers are never at the bargaining table. Many government employees are forced to pay union dues in order to get and keep their jobs. Union bosses admit that much of the dues money goes to buy political influence to get what the unions want in pay and benefits. But the government employee unions don't exercise their influence only to increase benefits for their members. These unions are also big players in promoting leftwing and Democratic Party governmental policies of all kinds.

Nationwide, only 7% of private companies are unionized. However 41% of government employees are unionized. Together they collect $14 billion annually in dues. The government union officials are very well paid, with individual compensation ranging up to $300,000 per person in annual salaries. One of the major government employee unions is the National Education Association, which exerts tremendous influence on education policies and spending.

Government union leaders enjoy tremendous political influence. The former head of the SEIU (Service Employees International Union), Andy Stern, for example, visited the Obama White House at least 22 times. AFL-CIO leader Richard Trumka bragged that he visited the White House two or three times a week, and that he spoke to White House staff every day of the week, including weekends. Perhaps that isn't surprising, considering that unions spent more than $300 million to $400 million in each presidential election to help elect a Democratic president.

Listen to the radio commentary here: