Obama's love for the Unions

I have written before about the connection between Obama and the Unions.  I am sure there are some good things that come out of being a member of the Union, and I am sure that some Union members are decent people.  I want to take a closer look at the Unions.  Let's take a look at how Obama is putting the Unions ahead of the non-union workers.

According to this article, "I’m sure there are sophisticated arguments for why the UAW members shouldn’t pay back the taxpayers who bailed their employer out of bankruptcy before they negotiate a deal that gives them each a $5,000 bonus. I just can’t think of them right now."
 
According to this article, "Most city workers spend decades in public service to build up modest pensions. But for former labor leader Dennis Gannon, the keys to securing a public pension were one day on the city payroll and some help from the Daley administration.

And his city pension is more than modest. It's the highest of any retired union leader: $158,000. That's roughly five times greater than what the typical retired city worker receives.

In fact, his pension is so high that it exceeds federal limits and required the city pension fund to file special paperwork with the Internal Revenue Service to give it to him."

According to this article, "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 workers to conduct union business at taxpayers’ expense are permitted in the agreements."

Lastly, according to this article, "Taxpayers across the nation are spending millions of dollars to pay the salaries and benefits of government employees to work exclusively for labor unions, an investigation by the Arizona-based Goldwater Institute has found.

The practice is called “official time” in federal law, or “release” time in local labor agreements reviewed by the Institute. At the federal level, it cost taxpayers more than $129 million in 2009, the last year for which figures are available, according to a report from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management."

Now personally, if I were a Union member, I would not like my money going into the Union Bosses pockets.  The Unions are suppose to help workers, not to fatten their wallets.  I have to wonder if the Union members realize that every time they get a better "contract" for their work that not only do the non - union member have to pay for it, but, so do they.  Every time the Unions negotiate a contract, the new benefits they receive, they are paying for it as well as everyone else.  It just doesn't make sense to me, that union members have to pay more out in taxes or whatever the government wants to call it, in order for them to have better pay or benefits.  Is it really worth it, when you see the bosses of the Unions making as much money as they are and everyone is paying their salaries?