I thought it might be interesting to make a chart depicting pay to American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) employees, as I did last week for the Ohio Education Association (OEA). Forgive me for noticing something of a trend in these union payroll… trends.
AFSCME members report to elected officials, are paid with tax dollars, and pay union dues for protection from the taxpayer (view Excel source). Most of the questions I asked about OEA compensation apply here as well: If Ohio’s public union members hang by a thread, why do union bosses take so much for themselves? If overpaid private industry entrepreneurs and investors are the root of Ohio’s fiscal troubles, why shouldn’t Ohio taxpayers be concerned about six-figure union salaries?
Ohio Average Pay, 2009
- Private industry worker: $40,128
- Government worker: $45,246 ($5,000 more than private industry)
- AFSCME Council 8 employee: $57, 269 ($17,000 more than private industry)
- AFSCME Local 11 employee: $67,625 ($27,000 more than private industry)
- AFSCME Local 4 employee: $83,485 ($43,000 more than private industry)
Keep in mind, these characters pay themselves with money taken from the government workers they represent… and they don’t produce anything but tired class warfare propaganda.
2010 AFSCME Local 4 (Ohio Association of Public School Employees) Top 10
- Joseph Rugola, Executive Director: $243,712.00
- Gary Martin, Associate Director: $202,712.00
- Charles Roginski, Regional Director: $161,885.00
- Tom Drabick, Director of Legal Dept: $154,584.00
- Randy Weston, Dir of Pol Action: $142,261.00
- Lloyd Rains, Regional Director: $137,328.00
- Steve Myers, Regional Director: $132,742.00
- Anthony Vernell, Regional Director: $128,239.00
- Harold Palmer, Regional Director: $127,831.00
- Clyde Mauk, Regional Director: $125,855.00
2010 AFSCME Council 8 Top 10
- R. SEAN GRAYSON, GENERAL COUNSEL: $130,315.00
- TERRY M REED, ORGANIZING DIRECTOR: $128,975.00
- THOMAS J RITCHIE, FIELD SERVICES DIRECTOR: $127,293.00
- SALLY A POWLESS, REGIONAL DIRECTOR: $111,654.00
- MARIANNE STEGER, HEALTH CARE/PUBLIC POLICY: $110,751.00
- MARCIA R KNOX, REGIONAL DIRECTOR: $108,748.00
- MICHAEL D BAUER, REGIONAL DIRECTOR: $108,637.00
- ROBERT A DAVIS, LEGISLATION/POLITICAL DIR: $108,418.00
- JOHN J FILAK JR., STAFF REPRESENTATIVE: $107,785.00
- ROBERT L THOMPSON, REGIONAL DIRECTOR: $107,475.00
As of publication the Department of Labor doesn’t list the 2010 report for AFSCME Local 11, which is why that trend line ends at 2009 on the chart.
For organizations solely dedicated to their members’ well-being, Ohio’s AFSCME affiliates throw money at most every leftist cause in the state. Council 8, Local 11, and Local 4 have given more than $4.5 million to Ohio Democrats since 2001. Progressive think-tanks are frequent recipients of member dues, too – in the past five years, $124,000 went to Policy Matters Ohio and $10,000 to Progress Ohio.
No one should be convinced by AFSCME’s claim to the moral high ground; least of all the public employees who keep their racket in the black.
Cross-posted at that hero.
These posts are incredible stupid. You're comparing apples to volleyballs. The average "private industry worker" doesn't have the job responsibilities of the union leader salaries you're comparing them, too.
ReplyDeleteA fairer comparison would be what a private worker in an executive position makes compared to comparable union position.
Of course, you won't do that because that would refute your tired, illogical, factually flawed anti-union rhetoric.
Oh poor j.hart!
ReplyDeleteModern usually has such nice things to say, but he called your posts "incredible stupid."
Dude, do you need a grief counselor? Want to go out and drown your sorrows? I know this is really rough.
Modern comparing Union Leader Salaries to executive salaries shows the true problem of Pigs.
ReplyDeleteALL ANIMALS ARE EQUAL, BUT SOME ANIMALS ARE MORE EQUAL THAN OTHERS.
When the animals take over the farm, they think it is the start of a better life. Their dreams is of a world where all animals are equal and all property is shared. But soon the pigs take control and one of them, Napoleon, becomes the leader of all the animals. One by one the principles of the revolution are abandoned, until the animals have even less freedom than before.
This isn't about Animal Farm. This is about fair and objective analyis. Comparing the salaries of top positions of labor to the lowest economic rungs of the income ladder is nothing more than to intentionally create a deception. This post is a rigged "analysis."
ReplyDeleteTo call this post "factual" is farce. It's a partisan, stacked deck analysis in which the data is hand selected to specifically prove the author's predetermined biased outcome.
Comparing the salaries of top positions of labor to the lowest economic rungs of the income ladder is nothing more than to intentionally create a deception.
ReplyDeleteWow. You're creating a deception about what J's numbers are.
Its not "top positions" of labor, its the average of ALL the employees of the labor groups he listed.
And its not the "lowest economic rungs of the income ladder", its the average earnings for ALL of private-sector workers. That includes the McDonalds worker but it also includes doctors, engineers, executives, lawyers with unusually large heads, and other well paying jobs.
Sorry the numbers don't reflect well on your union buddies, Modern. They are what they are.
You can look at your decision to include the "regular" union employees salaries and comparing them to the private sector one of two ways. You could take it the way you are trying to convey that union members are overpaid compared to the private sector. But a reasonable person could also take it as an argument FOR unions, guys. If union members make more money, why wouldn't the average person want to be in a union? I'm not sure how well this post was thought out to be honest with you.
ReplyDeleteFurthermore, less than 30% of the population has a college degree, so when you say "That includes the McDonalds worker but it also includes doctors, engineers, executives, lawyers with unusually large heads, and other well paying jobs", it is intellectually dishonest as there's a lot more of the workforce out there closer to the McDonald's rung than the large-headed lawyers.
Keep hitting union boss salaries and the system collective bargaining that allows public employees to have an unfair advantage that taxpayers have to live with. Point out how many union dollars go towards the DNC and Democratic candidates/issues. But by placing the "regular" union member salaries up there, you are engaging in the same class warfare that the Dems like to do. I don't think we as conservatives need to stoop to that level.
Whoa, Modern, I guess using raw data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics and Department of Labor to create a plainly labeled chart does constitute a rigged analysis! Thanks for helping me see the light.
ReplyDeleteReally, the fact that leftists demonize "the rich" regularly but leap to the defense of union bosses says more about your credibility than I ever could.
J.Hart-
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't presume to suggest that an unskilled worker should get paid the same as a CEO of a corporation. Nobody honestly believes that. You just THINK people do because that's what you conflate when people talk about excessive corporate benefits packages.
You're advocating for a system where the company responsible for the BP oil spill can give out "safety record" bonuses to its top executives, Lehman Brothers Richard Fuld jumps out of the burning wreckage of the economy with a golden parachute he negotiated for, but we're told we cannot "afford" a defined benefit plan for school teachers?
BTW, most, if not all folks who actually work for the union IS, by definition in a leadership position as demonstrated by the position titles you yourself used.
Regardless it takes more education and training to be a school teacher than a worker at McDonald's. Comparing the two and suggesting they should be the same in compensation and benefits is a farce.