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Get this – a new report says that the U.S. State Department (you know, the diplomats and folks who are in charge of foreign policy), may get involved in a labor dispute in that distant, little known foreign country of… Mississippi?

According to this report, the United Auto Workers (UAW) have asked the State Department to help promote unionization at a plant in Mississippi because the union thinks Nissan is violating Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) standards.

There are so many words to describe this situation: outrageous, ridiculous, foolhardy, embarrassing.

But here’s the most apt: desperate.

The UAW is so desperate for traction in a nation where workers are sprinting away from unions that they would recruit a federal agency that has nothing – zero – to do with domestic labor issues to their cause.

U.S. Senator Thad Cochran had a few choice words to say about this news:

“With all that’s going on in the world, the United States Department of State should concentrate on enhancing U.S. security interests and promoting peace around the world rather than interfering in domestic labor activities.  Mississippians can decide for themselves how they want to handle these issues.”

We couldn’t agree more.

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Union Boss Richard Trumka’s generous paycheck is raising some eyebrows.  An article published yesterday in the Washington Free Beacon, titled “Trumka’s Big Bucks,” details AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka’s latest strategy to encourage his members to fight “out-of-control CEO pay.”  But with all this rhetoric about getting executive salaries under control, Trumka still makes eight times as much as the average American worker, while their pensions go bankrupt.

From the Washington Free Beacon,

“Trying to stir union members into protesting the disparity between the wages of CEO’s and the worker’s they manage, Trumka’s email said, “Runaway CEO pay isn’t just bad for our economy, it’s bad for the morale of working families, too. All workers, from the executive suite down to the shop floor, contribute to making a company successful. But these corporations are buying into the myth that the success of a corporation is the result of its CEO alone.”

As President of the union, Trumka makes over eight times as much as the average American worker.

[…]

In 2011, Trumka earned $293,750.

According to the recent email from Trumka’s desk, the average American worker makes about $34,000 a year.”

Unfortunately Richard Trumka isn’t the only Big Labor boss with a salary that’s out of control. In fact, his very generous income of $293,750 in 2011 is about average.  According to the Labor Department’s total compensation figures, many of the top labor leaders make even more than Trumka:

• Mary Kay Henry, President of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), earned $290,334 in 2011;
• Gerald McEntee, President of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal employees, AFL-CIO (AFSCME), earned $512,369;
• James Hoffa, General President of the Teamsters, earned $372,489;
• Dennis Van Roekel, President of the National Education Association (NEA), earned $460,060;
• Joseph Hansen, President of the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW), earned $361,124, and
• Randi Weingarten, President of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), earned $493,859.

While Trumka calls on his members to get “CEO pay under control,” he should take a hard look at the dollars he and other union bosses are pocketing compared to the American workers they claim to represent.

This entry was posted in Big Labor Bosses, Department of Labor, Feature, Politics, Unions and tagged AFL-CIO, AFT, American Federation of Teachers, Hansen, Hoffa, Mary Kay Henry, National Education Association, NEA, SEIU, Teamsters, Trumka, UFCW, United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, Weingarten. Bookmark the permalink.