In 2013, SEIU Healthcare Illinois-Indiana spent a total of $1.5 million on such things as hotels, air travel, rental cars, and restaurants and catering. These “extras” represent the money of 3,092 members and nonmembers, or 3.3 percent of the union’s total membership.

TAGS: labor

IEA continues wasteful union spending

By Paul Kersey

10/10/2014

The Illinois Education Association, or IEA, has gotten even more wasteful, according to new LM-2 spending reports filed with the U.S. Department of Labor. IEA has a history of being a very wasteful union. In my review of union spending, I went through IEA operations spending – money that went into representation, politics and lobbying,...

TAGS: labor, unions

Government-employee unions in Illinois waste their members’ dues

By Paul Kersey

08/20/2014

Nearly all government employees are forced to pay money to a union as a condition of keeping their jobs. And it’s not cheap. The forced dues can reach as high as $1,000 per year in the case of Chicago public school teachers. Union officials can count on hundreds of millions of dollars a year in...

TAGS: labor, membership, unions, waste

401(k)-style retirement plans are the new normal; Illinois should get on board

By Benjamin VanMetre

07/30/2014

401(k)-style retirement plans have become America’s primary retirement vehicle. In 1985, only one in 10 Fortune 100 companies offered 401(k)-style retirement plans to their employees. Today, seven in 10 Fortune 100 companies provide only defined-contribution, 401(k)-style retirement plans to new employees. This trend is in line with the private sector overall, where nearly 85 percent of...

Tweet debunk: Department of Labor minimum wage push ignores job loss and temporary nature of minimum wage pay

By Naomi Lopez Bauman

05/15/2014

Link to tweet. If you are an employer or are in charge of human resources for your organization, you might soon be on the receiving end of the U.S. Department of Labor’s social media campaign to increase the minimum wage. Unlike the job-creators in the economy, federal bureaucrats don’t seem to fully-grasp how employers determine...

Illinois paid out $266M in improper unemployment insurance payments

By Brian Costin

01/14/2014

Earlier this week in a televised White House address President Barack Obama said, “I can’t name a time where I met an American who would rather have an unemployment check than the pride of having a job.” But Obama’s statement is contrary to recent statistics released by the U.S. Department of Labor, which show many...

TAGS: unemployment

Illinois unemployment stalls at 9.5 percent

By Chris Andriesen

03/31/2013

The Illinois Department of Employment Security announced today that the Illinois unemployment rate remained at 9.5 percent in March. Three months ago it was 8.6 percent.

United States Department of Labor

Amid dues hikes, AFSCME opt-outs left in the dark on union spending

Governments unions veer from mission in Illinois

Government unions bloated with overhead

How unions spend workers’ money

IEA continues wasteful union spending

Government-employee unions in Illinois waste their members’ dues

401(k)-style retirement plans are the new normal; Illinois should get on board

Tweet debunk: Department of Labor minimum wage push ignores job loss and temporary nature of minimum wage pay

Illinois paid out $266M in improper unemployment insurance payments

Illinois unemployment stalls at 9.5 percent

4 ways to break out of Illinois’ pension trap

Report Archive

Diana Graham

Process for unionizing non-state workers raises red flags

CBS Chicago: Illinois’ highest-paid superintendent receives $400K per year to oversee 1,200 students