"PRESS RELEASE
"Union Dues Spent on Golf, Cadillac, Resorts, and Even Wal-Mart
New Union LM-2 Financial Information Available and Searchable on UnionFacts.com

4/3/06

Washington, DC – Revised financial reporting requirements by the Department of Labor (DOL) are exposing union leaders’ spending habits with unprecedented clarity. Last Friday (3/31), most major unions filed their LM-2 financial disclosure forms with the government, and jaw-dropping expenditures are already easy to find.

Using the search function on www.unionfacts.com, making sense of the mountains of union financial data is simple. A preliminary look revealed the following:

• Nearly $1.5 million in union members’ dues money was spent on golf.
• The Ironworkers AFL-CIO Local Union 40 spent $52,879 on a new Cadillac for a retiring president.
• $7.9 million of employee dues money went to resort expenditures.
• The Boilermakers AFL-CIO Local 374 spent $8,800 of employee dues money on Christmas gifts at Wal-Mart, despite the labor movement’s smear campaign against the retailer.
• Between six AFL-CIO locals, over $50,000 of employee dues money was spent at a single D.C. steakhouse.
• The AFL-CIO alone spent over $49 million on political activities and lobbying—much of which is spent quietly on in-kind political expenditures like pro-Kerry brochures and websites. That’s almost $20 million more than it spent on representation activities.

“The increased transparency of union spending will be especially meaningful to union members who are getting their first candid look at how their mandatory union dues are spent by labor officials,” said Richard Berman executive director of the Center for Union Facts. “The 40% of union members who voted for George W. Bush might be interested to know just how much of their dues money went to support John Kerry.”

To learn more visit: www.UnionFacts.com. For further information or to arrange an interview please call Sarah Longwell at (202) 463-7106.

The Center for Union Facts is a non-profit organization supported by foundations, businesses, union members, and the general public. We are dedicated to showing Americans the truth about today's union leadership.

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