Labor Notes is a great resource for anyone concerned with where the labor movement is headed. Earlier this year they had a great piece on bloated salaries for union officials. Now they’ve analyzed the dues structure of 15 major unions in 2004, and — to no one’s surprise — the cash is rolling in! The return on this windfall, though, remains in doubt.
As you might expect, Labor Notes found that the highest dues were paid by the Operating Engineers members, who are highly skilled, “[b]ut even unions with a reputation for organizing low-wage workers, most notably the Service Employees (SEIU) and UNITE HERE (which represents hotel and restaurant workers), have higher than average dues.”
Interestingly, the report found:
Adjusted for inflation, the biggest increase among major unions was in the Teamsters, where dues went up by almost 20 percent. But the Teamsters were not alone raising dues significantly in recent years. AFSCME, SEIU, CWA, UFCW, and the IUOE all posted double-digit dues increases between 2000 and 2004.
Where’d the money go? Toward fixing the problems created by union bosses in the first place:
But the worst part is how members are left feeling. Labor Notes finds: