Money for nothing: Taxpayers foot the bill for
government union work...
by Mark Flatten
An investigation uncovered that collective bargaining agreements with seven labor organizations require the city to pay union officers and provide members with thousands of additional hours to conduct union business instead of doing their government jobs.
by Mark Flatten
Phoenix taxpayers spend millions of dollars to pay full salary and benefits for city employees to work exclusively for labor unions.
An investigation uncovered that collective bargaining agreements with seven labor organizations require the city to pay union officers and provide members with thousands of additional hours to conduct union business instead of doing their government jobs.
The total cost to Phoenix taxpayers is about $3.7 million per year, based on payroll records supplied by the city. In all, more than 73,000 hours of annual release time for city officials to conduct union business at taxpayers’ expense are permitted in the agreements. And it’s not just Phoenix: Similar agreements nationwide cost hundreds of millions of dollars, by some estimates.
The top officials in all of the unions have regular jobs with the city. But buried in the labor agreements are a series of provisions for those employees to be released from their regular duties to perform union work.
For top officers, the typical amount of annual release time is 2,080 hours, a full year of work based on 52 weeks at 40 hours each. They continue to draw full pay and benefits, just as if they were showing up for their regular jobs. But they are released from their regular duties to conduct undefined union business.
Union officials say the time is a good investment that leads to a more productive workforce. Critics say it amounts to an illegal gift of taxpayer money.
One city council member called it “shocking,” adding that “taxpayers should not be funding union activities. It should all come out of union dues.”
To read the rest of this special investigation, click here.
