Top union leaders draw big paychecks

By Leigh Strope
Associated Press

WASHINGTON — The leaders of America's labor unions are a well-paid bunch: four earned more than $400,000 last year, and another four had salaries above $300,000.

The two highest salaries, both well over $400,000, went to executives whose unions cater to workers in Hollywood's entertainment industry. In contrast, the top 10 earners running U.S. companies last year made $33 million to $148 million in total compensation, according to Forbes.

Overall, 140 unions reported $7.4 billion in receipts and $6.4 billion in assets in 2003, according to Labor Department data compiled by Political Money Line, a nonpartisan service that tracks campaign spending.

The National Football League Players Association was not on Political Money Line's list of unions that submitted 2003 financial reports, and the union's 2003 report also was not available on the Labor Department's Web site. In the union's 2002 report, its executive director, Eugene Upshaw Jr., earned a base salary of $2.73 million.

Total expenses weren't compiled, so it is difficult to gauge the financial health of organized labor as it heads into November's election. Union leaders are pledging record spending to mobilize their members to support John Kerry and congressional Democrats this fall.

The union official who earned the highest salary last year was John McLean, executive director of the Writers Guild of America-West, who received $445,461. The guild had 7,601 members.

The chief executive of the Screen Actors Guild reported the largest salary increase.

A.R. Pisano's base pay jumped 59 percent to $425,426 last year, the second-highest salary. His union reported 78,689 members.

The average annual salary for a union president in 2003 was $122,297. Twenty unions had not filed financial reports for 2003.

Last year, union membership fell by 369,000 to 15.8 million, or 12.9 percent of the work force.

The Service Employees International Union had the largest membership increase, adding 138,805 to its rolls. The American Postal Workers Union reported the largest drop in members, down 53,754. The largest union was the National Education Association, with almost 2.7 million members.