Those who have living very well wage!

[John Kawakami]

>And as for pay, it's worth remembering that the AFL-CIO core budget is only
>$60 million, a tiny fraction of the budget of the international unions.  Top
>union pay has actually dropped quite a bit in a number of unions like HERE,
>SEIU and the Teamsters, since along with regular salary, the heads used to
>regularly collect additional salaries as trustees of pension and health care
>funds, or from various locals.  That abusive practice has been being phased
>out, so while the salaries are way too large, there has been some
>improvement in recent years.
>
>-- Nathan Newman

That's only the upper tier.  A $200,000 salary for someone who is 
effective is totally worth it.  It's a tough job.  To look at it in 
entirely fiscal terms, as long as the dues keep your pay and bennies 
in a union shop higher than those in a nonunion shop, they're taking 
care of their primary business.  Beyond the money, they are 
responsible for negotiating some long term stability and profit 
sharing for their membership.